3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 10/25/22

Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.

A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down.

A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.

While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.

Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?

Luka Doncic, PG/SG, Mavericks ($11,200)

There is a planet-sized chasm between Luka Doncic and the next-best stud on the slate.

Doncic would be viable with a huge spread and a terrible environment on this slate, but he's also got the exact opposite. His Mavericks are 4.5-point road favorites in New Orleans, and these two squads also have run at a top-10 pace to begin the season.

With Jalen Brunson in New York, we knew Doncic would have a super high floor in fantasy basketball this season, and he has. He even posted 64.4 FanDuel points on Saturday despite not playing the fourth quarter as the Mavs blew out the Grizzlies.

With plenty of value options from the Thunder and Clippers to fit his salary, Doncic should be overwhelmingly rostered tonight. There's not even a true viable stud above $9,000 given Stephen Curry has failed to hit 45 FanDuel points in back-to-back games with a subpar role for the salary.

Devin Booker, SG, Suns ($8,500)

It appears Phoenix is handing the keys over to Devin Booker this season.

Chris Paul even rode the bench late in their opener with Dallas, and he's just not shooting. Paul's 16.2% usage rate is even behind Cameron Johnson's (19.1%), and he's shot just 32.1% from the floor anyway.

That's done wonders for Booker's fantasy value. He's posted a team-high 29.5% usage rate in his stead, which has led to three straight games over 42 FanDuel points.

With a 226.0-point total, the Suns' game hosting the Warriors is Tuesday's best-projected environment, but the Golden State side is beyond tricky to target with inconsistent minutes and production.

At the very least, Booker and Deandre Ayton (25.9% usage rate) are two clear studs from the Phoenix side that we can put our arms around.

C.J. McCollum, PG/SG, Pelicans ($8,300)

As of this moment, it's unknown if Zion Williamson will play on Tuesday due to a hip injury. If he does, he's a better play than C.J. McCollum because he fills the otherwise-desolate frontcourt.

However, I'm kind of assuming the Pelicans will play it safe with their fragile star, which will leave New Orleans without both Williamson and Brandon Ingram (concussion).

In that case, McCollum should shine. He turned in a gaudy 32.5% usage rate with Zion and B.I. sitting last season, and that resulted in 1.25 FanDuel points per minute overall.

This is a brutal rotation to project considering Herbert Jones (knee) may also sit. Plus, Jonas Valanciunas' salary is sky-high after his monstrous outing on Friday. The best way to stack Doncic, who is clearly the top guy of the day, is with the Pels' opposing stud point guard.