FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 1/26/22

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy basketball is very reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

Two years ago today, the basketball world lost Kobe Bryant. Therefore, I wanted to lead today's helper with my favorite quote from the late, great "Mamba."

"Dedication makes dreams come true."

This 10-game slate will give someone an opportunity to make a dream come true on FanDuel, but unfortunately, that dream lineup won't include Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell. The pair have already been ruled out for the Jazz per Wednesday's official injury report. The Suns will be missing Deandre Ayton (ankle) and Jae Crowder (wrist) on the other side of that one.

Domantas Sabonis is out for Indiana with his ankle sprain once more, and on the other side of that Pacers-Hornets tilt, "Buzz City" could be missing Gordon Hayward once more. Hayward sat Tuesday with a foot injury.

Mohamed Bamba is a question mark for Orlando as they face off with the Clippers. Marcus Morris is a question mark for L.A. tonight with his personal issue.

Jarrett Allen missed Monday's contest for Cleveland with a non-COVID illness. He's questionable for Wednesday against the Bucks.

The Kings were blown off the floor Tuesday as De'Aaron Fox sat with an ankle issue, and he's questionable again for Wednesday against Atlanta. The Hawks could be without De'Andre Hunter (back).

Kyle Lowry will sit for personal reasons tonight for the Heat as they host the Knicks. Mitchell Robinson is a question mark for New York with a sprained ankle.

Toronto was incredibly shorthanded on Tuesday as Fred VanVleet (knee) and Scottie Barnes (wrist) both ended up sitting. The pair are questionable at best for the second leg of the back-to-back.

The Nuggets could be missing Will Barton in Brooklyn due to a hamstring issue.

The Memphis Grizzlies might get back Desmond Bane from COVID-19 protocols; he's been upgraded to questionable. In turn, Brandon Clarke (back) might end up sitting tonight's battle with San Antonio.

Finally, the Mavericks will be without Tim Hardaway Jr. for Wednesday -- and beyond -- after he broke his foot on Tuesday.

Guards

Trae Young ($9,500): The top tier of guards is dicey, but Young at a slightly lower salary stands out amongst them. He's had a recent production dip, but Young's usage in the last three games (34.5%) has actually been higher than his stellar month of January overall (34.0%). With a manageable nine-point spread, Young has tremendous upside if he gets four quarters to work against Sacramento's dreadful 114.1 defensive rating (second-worst in the NBA).

LaMelo Ball ($7,600): Gordon Hayward may sit once more, and Ball sees a 1.7 percentage-point increase in usage with Hayward off the floor this second. That's come on a team-best 29.7% usage rate in that floor situation. I trust Ball's well-rounded profile over the scoring-heavy Terry Rozier, and the Pacers defense is one to attack at the moment. They have a 116.1 defensive rating in their last 10 games -- largely due to the void of stingy shot-blocker, Myles Turner.

Mike Conley ($5,800): I wrote on Monday that Conley was due for a "pop" game operating without Mitchell at an elevated usage rate. Well, he didn't play -- nor did any of Utah's other four normal starters. He's now the same salary for a home game in the same matchup against Phoenix. Jordan Clarkson is a love of numberFire's projections today, but his lone fantasy-relevant contest in this span came starting for Conley. He's back to the bench, so I prefer the veteran.

Others to Consider:
Tyrese Haliburton ($7,700): Sacramento shot 6-for-33 from deep last night and he still managed 7 assists. Better days ahead.
Jalen Brunson ($5,400): No THJ should make his role that much safer. Horrible Portland defense on deck.
Cole Anthony ($5,300): This plummeting salary should make up for the pact he's been the worst player in basketball the past week. Kidding...kind of.
Cody Martin ($3,600): 36 minutes in a blowout on Tuesday with no Hayward. A top value play if he's out again.

Wings

James Harden ($10,200): With LaMarcus Aldridge limited to just 20 minutes on Tuesday, Brooklyn is fresh out of offensive creators behind "The Beard." He carried a 35.8% usage rate in a monstrous triple-double as the Nets fell to the Lakers. Kyrie Irving is out for the home game once more on the second leg of the back-to-back, so he should have free reign once more to do whatever he pleases in the offense.

Jimmy Butler ($8,700): Butler's range of outcomes is fairly wide, but the 20-point triple-double he scored Sunday against the Lakers is definitely inside of it. He's amongst the top overall projected stars of the day as the Heat take on the Knicks without Kyle Lowry. Butler has a 26.9% usage rate with Lowry off the floor this season, and that healthy number is tops amongst Miami starters. Tyler Herro's return isn't a massive change since he will likely play off the bench.

Cameron Johnson ($5,000): The hypothesis behind Johnson's playing time on Monday paid off in earnest. He shot up to 38 minutes on the floor as Phoenix continues without Ayton and Crowder, but his salary remains unchanged entering Wednesday. With Mikal Bridges and Bismack Biyombo at higher salaries with more question marks, the three-and-D specialist is a really simple plug at small forward.

Others to Consider:
Caris LeVert ($7,800): 38% shooting from the field masked a gaudy 29.6% usage rate. Great value for this salary.
Gary Trent Jr. ($5,000): Dropped 32 real-life points without VanVleet on Tuesday. Lock button in all formats if he's out again.
Joe Ingles ($4,000): Also sat out Monday's day off for the Jazz. Should return to the lineup and 30-plus minutes once more.
Kessler Edwards ($4,000): Our projections have loved Edwards for a while, but he was second on the Nets in minutes Tuesday. He appears here to stay.

Bigs

Nikola Jokic ($11,800): It's absurd Joel Embiid's night overshadowed yet another 60-burger from the most stable fantasy player in the league at the moment. Really, it's just about checking that Jokic is not facing an outlier matchup to deploy him at this point, and Brooklyn definitely doesn't qualify. The Nets have the fourth-worst defensive rating (116.9) and seventh-worst defensive rebounding percentage (70.5%) in the month of January.

Evan Mobley ($6,900): The Cavs (21st in pace) are in a massive pace-up spot against the Bucks (4th), so all of their options are in consideration, but Mobley stands out as just under-salaried in a vacuum before taking into account matchup. He's averaged 0.91 FanDuel points per minute, and he's played at least 35 minutes in seven of his last nine games. I'm hoping Allen does play on Wednesday to limit his popularity; his projection will be sky-high without his center.

Hassan Whiteside ($5,500): Whiteside has largely been disappointing in his action with the Jazz, but his potential seeing a full workload is enormous. He got one (32 minutes) on Monday with Gobert out, and the expectation is he should once more Wednesday in a much more efficient offense as Conley, Ingles, and Royce O'Neale return. He does have the potential to get benched, but his top projection in numberFire's model is well deserved.

Others to Consider:
Pascal Siakam ($8,900): If Barnes and VanVleet sit again, Siakam is viable. Doesn't clog the pivot, either.
Bam Adebayo ($7,700): His 24.8% usage rate this month gives him a lot of ways to find 40 FanDuel points. Don't stack him and Butler too often, though.
Bobby Portis ($6,300): He's posted over 32 FanDuel points in six of his last nine games. Weird salary.
PJ Washington ($4,800): Ejected last night at decent popularity, but he could have a key role again. Indiana plays without a center often now; advantage him over Mason Plumlee.