FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 2/7/22

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

The largest question mark from the injury report for Monday's five-game slate is Zach LaVine. LaVine has missed two straight for the Bulls and is listed as questionable for their game with Phoenix due to a back issue. Coby White (groin) is also in danger of missing a third straight game for Chicago.

Miami also has a pair of key players in peril. Both Jimmy Butler (toe) and Tyler Herro (knee) are questionable. Butler has played through his questionable tag twice now, but this is a new ailment listing for Herro.

On the other side, the Wizards placed Daniel Gafford in COVID-19 protocols on Sunday. He is out at least for Monday's contest.

Rudy Gay is questionable off Utah's bench due to a knee injury he didn't return from on Friday. That's notable with the Jazz still missing Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt, as well. Jordan Clarkson (knee) could potentially return from a two-game leave, though.

Finally, Luguentz Dort broke his nose on Friday. That forced him to miss Saturday's game. Oklahoma City is already a 12.5-point underdog to Golden State with the potential for Dort to play, so his status could impact the viability of either team in that contest.

Guards

Devin Booker ($8,900): Chris Paul is viable at the five-digit salary he holds, but with a similar range of outcomes, Booker is a better choice here. The 229.0-point total as Phoenix visits Chicago is the highest projected one of the day, and we know Booker likely contributes heavily to the Suns' tally. His 11 points in a Saturday blowout win over Washington snapped a streak of six straight games with at least 28 points. A new one could easily begin tonight.

Spencer Dinwiddie ($5,900): That blowout loss the Wizards took left a bulk of their players under-salaried for Monday despite a stingy Heat defense on the other side. Amongst them is Dinwiddie, who is averaging 1.12 FanDuel points per minute with Bradley Beal off the floor this season. This situation has stayed the same for a while, so Dinwiddie may not even be particularly popular without the flashy box scores to represent his larger trend for the season.

Kyle Lowry ($5,600): I'm genuinely curious at the thought behind this salary mark for Lowry. He posted 31.4 FanDuel points in his first full game back from personal leave and is averaging 0.98 FanDuel points this season in any floor condition. He should be the single most popular play at guard in an environment (107.25 implied team total for Miami) that's not as poor as you'd expect from two teams in the bottom-12 spots in pace this season.

Others to Consider:
Fred VanVleet ($8,600): There's still 40 real-life points upside here if you have the salary to burn at guard.
Josh Giddey ($6,500): Would love him at this salary and usage any other day. Not expecting four quarters against the Dubs, though.
Terry Rozier ($6,500): Giddey should keep his popularity in check. Way too low of a salary for 30 real-life points potential.

Wings

Kyle Kuzma ($8,200): Spending salary at any position could be dicey on Monday's slate if LaVine ends up crushing the value of DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. Even without phenomenal upside, Kuzma should be in the hunt for per-dollar value at this mark. He has high marks amongst starters in usage (26.6%) and FanDuel points per minute (1.15) when Beal has been off the floor this season. He also posted two 50 FanDuel points games without him last week.

Scottie Barnes ($6,200): Barnes is pounding minutes to keep his FanDuel value afloat. He's posted at least 35 minutes in his last six contests, and he's eclipsed value at this salary in four of them despite a sporadic 15.5 points per game scoring average. He doesn't need usage to accumulate fantasy points, so it helps that he can be used alongside VanVleet or Pascal Siakam pretty seamlessly.

Gordon Hayward ($5,200): Hayward played 29 minutes on Friday in Charlotte's last competitive contest, so he should be in line for a 30-plus minute role now nearly a week back from COVID-19 protocols. He's not the sexiest option in the Hornets' crowded usage tree but is averaging 0.94 FanDuel points per minute this season. His salary is just too low for that type of role. The same could be said about any Hornet not named LaMelo Ball, really.

Others to Consider:
Miles Bridges ($7,000): He and Hayward likely eat into each other's upside, but they're both criminally under-salaried. Love them both.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($4,700): 35-minute role and should continue to benefit from Beal's absence.
Jae Crowder ($4,500): 35-minute role in a game with a 229.0-point total. Slight lean to KCP of these two, though.

Bigs

Pascal Siakam ($9,700): It really should be no surprise Siakam bludgeoned the Hornets for 24 points and 12 boards when they met two weeks ago. Charlotte has the seventh-worst defensive rebounding percentage (71.1%) and has allowed the most second-chance points (15.1) in the NBA. The salary is lofty here, but compared to his neighbors, he's got the most realistic path to 50 FanDuel points in a massive pace-up spot to the top-paced Hornets.

Deandre Ayton ($7,600): Ayton and Hassan Whiteside will likely fill my pivot spots today. Ayton hasn't eclipsed 28 minutes since returning from an ankle injury, but it's largely been due to game script. This is a long-term play on his 1.16 FanDuel points per minute mark in the best game environment of the day. The top three options at center otherwise are wildly over-salaried given their long-term production in their current floor situations.

Montrezl Harrell ($4,900): Harrell could be absurdly popular with Gafford out, and he should be. His 1.17 FanDuel points per minute are the highest on the Wizards when Beal is off the floor; he's just barely been on the floor. That said, the Wizards' frontcourt is still crowded enough with Thomas Bryant and Rui Hachimura that there are paths to failure in tournaments. Miami also allows the fewest paint points in the NBA. Don't crazy here, but Harrell is still a solid option.

Others to Consider:
Hassan Whiteside ($6,300): Full-time role again with Gobert out. Salary has dropped to offset a tough matchup with the Knicks.
PJ Washington ($4,900): Razor-sharp pivot off of Harrell. He likely sees heavy minutes against the smaller Raps. He was ejected early last time these teams met.
Mamadi Diakite ($3,900): 30 minutes on Friday for OKC. A top-projected value that's a decent way to hedge fading this game if it stays close.