FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 5/9/22

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 slate most impacted by injury report traffic this entire postseason will take place Monday.

That's because Ja Morant of the Grizzlies is doubtful with a knee injury.

Luckily, that's really the only blip. But, considering Morant's do-it-all value to Memphis, several of their players will see bumps tonight.

Guards

Jrue Holiday ($8,600): Surprisingly, Holiday's output has jumped this series against the vaunted Boston defense, but it's just because the games are staying closer than they did against Chicago. Holiday's usage is still a hearty 29.6%, and that's allowed him to drop at least 25 points in two of the three contests thus far. As the C's continue to hone in on Giannis Antetokounmpo, those chances should stay put. As such, he's numberFire's top-projected guard over $8,000 in salary.

Tyus Jones ($3,700): Jones has been leapfrogged by De'Anthony Melton for playing time in this series, but he started 23 games for Morant this season, so I have a hunch Taylor Jenkins will try to bring some normalcy to a squad that won 18 of their last 20 contests without Ja. Jones averaged 0.96 FanDuel points per minute with Morant off the floor this season, so his floor is decently high, but his ceiling could ultimately be capped if Melton swipes the playing time -- or starts.

Others to Consider:
Stephen Curry ($9,400): The slate is loaded with value, so Curry's raw points are more appealing with less desire for per-dollar value in all spots.
De'Anthony Melton ($4,700): More talented scorer than Jones, which is why he's nudged ahead this series. I'll forgo Tyus altogether if he gets the nod to start.

Wings

Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,300): The Celtics' defense is having no such luck with Giannis as they did Kevin Durant. Giannis dropped 42 real-life points and 77.4 points on FanDuel in Game 3, so on a slate where value is overflowing, he will be enormously popular in all formats. Ultimately, this is a guy that averaged 1.72 FanDuel points per minute in the regular season now seeing around 40 minutes a night. Regardless of the matchup, fade at your own peril. Oh yeah, he may have a little motivation tonight as well.

Desmond Bane ($5,500): Well, FanDuel wasn't incredibly proactive with the Memphis salaries in this one -- likely by design with Morant not officially out. Therefore, getting four of them in every lineup against Golden State tonight might be a necessary evil. Bane's usage rate with Morant off the floor (24.3%) was lower than Dillon Brooks' (29.8%), but he actually outproduced Brooks in terms of FanDuel points per minute (1.13 versus 1.05). Both are obviously home-run plays on this slate.

Others to Consider:
Jayson Tatum ($9,900): As the gap between him and Jaylen Brown closes in terms of salary, he's more appealing. He'll shoot better than 34.3% for the series long-term.
Dillon Brooks ($5,000): Given Bane's scorching playoff run, I'm guessing he's the clear number two tonight in terms of scoring. Still way under-salaried.

Bigs

Al Horford ($7,400): Horford has played 37.3 minutes per game against Milwaukee compared to just 31.8 last series against Brooklyn. Largely, that's due to being seen as their best "Giannis Stopper" despite not doing much stopping. That doesn't matter for his fantasy output though, and he's shined through with 1.18 FanDuel points per minute in that hefty role. He's the clear top big man on the slate despite an otherworldly second choice as well.

Jaren Jackson Jr. ($6,900): That aforementioned second choice is Triple-J. Jackson was the Grizzlies' leader in usage rate (30.1%) and FanDuel points per minute (1.31) this season with Morant off the floor, and both of those marks tower over Bane and Brooks. Foul trouble is really the only path to Jackson unraveling with that role in this must-win contest. He's averaged 1.17 FanDuel points per minute this series already before accounting for the obvious boon he'll get without Ja.

Others to Consider:
Draymond Green ($6,300): Hasn't gotten rolling in this series due to blowouts and foul trouble. The salary is way too low if this somehow stays close.
Brandon Clarke ($5,000): Both he and Kyle Anderson are candidates for better roles without Ja. Ziaire Williams and Xavier Tillman played the fewest amount minutes without Morant this season because of their inability to create their own offense.