NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Wednesday 1/5/22

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Jan 5th, 2022

One of the keys to finding success in daily fantasy basketball is uncovering potential value plays. If you're looking to roster a stud player or two, you need to consider squeezing in one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at three players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Trey Lyles, PF, Detroit Pistons ($4,800)

The Detroit Pistons have seven players on the injury report, and that opens up some value tonight.

The injuries have been piling up for the Pistons, and that has led to Trey Lyles as their new starting center, even though he is listed as a power forward. In his last two starts, Lyles has played 34 and 37 minutes, posting 26.9 and 51.6 FanDuel points in the process. That's the level of production we could see from Lyles tonight because he has a juicy matchup against Charlotte. The Hornets are allowing 60.95 FanDuel points per game to opposing centers, which is dead last in the league.

Both the Pistons (9th) and the Hornets (3rd) are in the top 10 of the league in offensive pace, which is why we see this game holding a very strong 228.0-point over/under. All of this gives Lyles a projection of 31.92 minutes and 31.2 FanDuel points, making him the third-best value option overall and the best value at power forward.

Kiefer Sykes, PG, Indiana Pacers, ($3,700)

Keifer Sykes has been a near-home run as a value option for the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers are another team dealing with a number of players on the injury report, and Sykes has stepped into the starting lineup as the point guard over the past two games. Since they are so short-handed again tonight, Sykes is projected for 35.18 minutes and 24.1 FanDuel points, putting him as the fourth-best value option overall, and the top option among guards.

The projection is so strong since he's up against the Brooklyn Nets, who are allowing the fifth-most (48.31) FanDuel points per game to point guards. This game also has a solid 225.0-point over/under. It's also a pace-up spot for Indiana (22nd) compared to Brooklyn (8th).

All of this should make Sykes a great -- but very chalky -- value option tonight.

Rudy Gay, SF/PF, Utah Jazz ($3,900)

The Utah Jazz's starting lineup is a giant question mark tonight.

It's a giant question mark because Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O'Neale, and Rudy Gobert are all questionable for tonight's game. Three of their regular starters being listed as questionable puts things in a wait-and-see spot. We do know that Joe Ingles is listed as out, which gives Rudy Gay a path to more playing time.

Gay already plays a good amount of minutes most nights -- 17 to 25 minutes -- off the bench for the Jazz, but with their rotation potentially thinned out, he could be in a spot to be in the starting lineup or more minutes overall.

He's currently projected for 22.80 minutes and 21.4 FanDuel points, but that projection could push even higher if we see some of the questionable players ruled out later in the day.