NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Friday 4/1/22

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Apr 1st, 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.

Kelly Olynyk, PF/C, Detroit Pistons ($4,100)

With a number of injuries, the Detroit Pistons are the latest team to offer plenty of value options.

Both Jerami Grant and Marvin Bagley III are out for the Pistons, which puts Kelly Olynyk in a spot to be in the starting lineup. It's a great matchup for Olynyk. He is going up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are allowing 47.86 FanDuel points per game to power forwards, which is the third-most in the league. When Grant and Bagley are off the court, Olynyk is producing a very solid 1.10 FanDuel points per minute with a 22.2% usage rate.

This game has a modest 221.0-point over/under but a close 5.0-point spread, which should make it a fantasy-friendly environment.

All of this leads to Olynyk's projection of 26.97 minutes and 30.5 FanDuel points, making him the top value option on the slate (as of Friday afternoon), per our model.

Brandon Clarke, PF, Memphis Grizzlies ($4,400)

The Memphis Grizzlies have four out of their five starters listed as doubtful tonight.

If some or all of those players -- Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones, Steven Adams, and Jaren Jackson Jr. -- are eventually ruled out, Memphis will offer a ton of value. If that's going to be the case, we could see Brandon Clarke in the starting lineup or as the first big man off the bench. He'll be up against the Phoenix Suns in a game with a 229.5-point total and a 7.5-point spread.

When all of those players are off the court, we have a very small sample size to draw from, so take this with a grain of salt -- but Clarke is producing 1.26 FanDuel points per minute with a 21.5 % usage rate. There are a ton of variables for Clarke and the Grizzlies right now, but he's currently projected for 28.49 minutes and 32.5 FanDuel points, making him the second-best value option on the slate.

Kyle Anderson, SF/PF, Memphis Grizzlies ($4,200)

As noted above, there's a significant amount of value potential for the Grizzlies.

Whenever there's the potential for multiple starters missing from a lineup, that team is going to be a go-to squad for value options. The Grizzlies might be sans four of their normal starters on top of Ja Morant already being out.

Kyle Anderson could get into the starting lineup, and we have him projected for 25.75 minutes and 28.8 FanDuel points, making him the third-best value option on the slate.

The Suns are an average defensive team versus power forwards, allowing 44.58 FanDuel points per game to the position, but the potential for Anderson to see big minutes at a low salary outweighs any matchup concerns.