FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 11/16/22

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, basketball daily fantasy would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

Well, as a result, NBA daily fantasy is extremely 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.

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.

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

We'll go game-by-game through a Wednesday slate where nearly every team is significantly represented on a frantic official injury report.

Tyrese Haliburton (ankle) is questionable for the Pacers. They're in Charlotte, and the Hornets might be without Dennis Smith (ankle) once more.

Orlando doubled the amount of their starting frontcourt on the report. Wendell Carter Jr. (foot) has joined the recently-absent Paolo Banchero (ankle) as questionable for Wednesday.

Bradley Beal (COVID-19 protocols) will return for Washington tonight. They're hosting an Oklahoma City squad expected to be without Tre Mann (back) and Darius Bazley (ankle).

The Boston Celtics have upgraded Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring) to questionable entering their tilt with Atlanta.

Toronto's injury-plagued season continues in Miami. Otto Porter (toe) is already ruled out, and they'll once again wait on Fred VanVleet (illness) and Gary Trent Jr. (toe). For the Heat, both Tyler Herro (ankle) and Bam Adebayo (knee) are listed as questionable. Adebayo's backup Dewayne Dedmon ($3,500) is also questionable. Yikes.

Zion Williamson (foot) sat on the front end of this back-to-back last night, and he's questionable for New Orleans as they head to Chicago.

Cleveland and Milwaukee are both a bit of a mess. Jarrett Allen (illness) is already out for the Cavs, and Donovan Mitchell (ankle) is questionable. Milwaukee has Grayson Allen (ankle) listed as doubtful, but Jrue Holiday (ankle) and Pat Connaughton (calf) are both questionable.

Maxi Kleber (back) was injured and removed from last night's game. I highly doubt he suits up for Dallas in Houston.

Once again, Chris Paul (heel) is questionable for Phoenix. Could his return spot be this national television clash with Golden State?

Finally, the Nuggets have a COVID-19 problem. Nikola Jokic is in the league's protocol and won't play. Nah'Shon Hyland is doubtful. Aaron Gordon is listed as questionable with an "illness". They're a key value spot on this slate, but make sure more players don't turn up this afternoon.

**Editor's Note: Dallas' Luka Doncic was ruled out for rest purposes after this helper was published. Check numberFire's projections for up-to-the-minute recommendations on today's slate.**

Guards

Last night showed you're likely betting on a 40-point triple-double to roster Luka Doncic ($12,500) in droves at his salary.

He dropped in 31 points, 11 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals against the Clippers and still didn't eclipse a 5.00 value score. The nine-point spread is another issue with Doncic on Wednesday, as well.

Once again, I'd rather turn to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,400) for the salary. He's posted over 50 FanDuel points in three of his past four, still commanding a gaudy 32.4% usage rate for OKC.

LaMelo Ball ($8,300) saw his workload improve to 33 minutes on Monday, but his production (33.1 FanDuel points) was still poor. I'm still buying his rate of 1.30 FanDuel points per minute last season at this salary.

If Paul sits, Devin Booker ($9,000) is a slam-dunk core play against a Warriors squad allowing the fifth-most three-point attempts per game (38.5). If Paul plays, the salary might be a tinge too high.

Of course, Darius Garland ($7,800) is on the table if Donovan Mitchell sits. Honestly, his production rate (1.07 FanDuel points per minute) is high enough that you can mix him in even if Mitchell plays.

Jamal Murray ($6,400) should have his hands full tonight with no Jokic, and with Bones Hyland out as well, Bruce Brown Jr. ($5,100) should see plenty of minutes, too.

As we dip into the value range, SGA's do-it-all teammate Josh Giddey ($6,800) is projecting well just as he was Monday. He's followed by D'Angelo Russell ($6,400) and Jalen Suggs ($5,900) for now, but watch for Dalano Banton ($6,000), Bennedict Mathurin ($5,800), and Malachi Flynn ($4,600) to rise this afternoon if injury news breaks their way.

Wings

With eight turnovers and disappointments in other categories outside of his 27 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,800) posted his worst full FanDuel game in a while on Monday. He's still a terrifying guy to fade with potentially no Jrue Holiday or Khris Middleton.

However, Jayson Tatum ($10,600) has also been cooking right behind him. He's posted 56.7 FanDuel points per game in this three-game stretch without Brogdon. I won't get there if Malcolm is available to play, but he's worth considering given a 33.4% usage rate in that time.

The upper mid-range is loaded with guys that disappointed in expanded roles the past couple of days. In the long run, I'll still bet on OG Anunoby ($8,100) and Scottie Barnes ($7,600) to lead Toronto in scoring over Dalano Banton, and I'd bet on Brandon Ingram ($8,000) picking up more of New Orleans' scoring than Larry Nance Jr. ($4,900). One-game samples are tough.

Like Murray, Michael Porter Jr. ($6,200) should have supreme freedom tonight with no Jokic. Christian Braun ($3,500) also got 26 minutes last game before this wave of illness in Denver. He'll likely take on 30-plus minutes.

On the other side, Cam Reddish ($3,500) has moved into a 30-minute, starting role for the Knicks. He's a no-brainer at minimum salary, but Herbert Jones ($4,600), Caleb Martin ($4,600), Torrey Craig ($4,500), Patrick Williams ($4,000), and Dorian Finney-Smith ($4,000) are all full-time wings projected well by numberFire's model. They're useful value pieces in game stacks.

Bigs

It's a good thing Antetokounmpo and Tatum are both power-forward eligible; power forward and center are otherwise a mess above $9,000.

This section largely has some of the key absence beneficiaries of today's injury news, headlined by Evan Mobley ($6,800). Mobley has seen a 1.1 percentage-point increase in usage with Jarrett Allen off the floor this year, resulting in an increase of 0.10 FanDuel points per minute. Kevin Love ($4,900) should also see a huge boost off the bench.

In that same vein, Bol Bol ($5,300) should be in line for a huge night if Wendell Carter sits. He's posted 1.12 FanDuel points per minute with both Carter and Paolo Banchero off the floor this season, but don't discount Mohamed Bamba ($4,600) contributing, too. He's at 1.20 per minute in that floor situation.

DeAndre Jordan ($4,000) has played a bulk of the non-Jokic minutes in Denver this season, but the Nuggets have a -13.5 net rating with him on the floor. It's hard to see him pouncing right into a 30-minute role.

On the other side, New York has been a disaster to target at center between Isaiah Hartenstein ($5,200) and Jericho Sims ($4,200). Tom Thibodeau has often played the most minutes to whoever didn't start. I'd rather turn to Julius Randle ($7,500), who should see plenty of time as the small-ball five if Denver does indeed size down.

The problem with the Mavs is that Dwight Powell ($3,700) starts, so Kleber's injury doesn't really add a lot of clarity to either him or Christian Wood ($6,300) in this spot. Wood's role might be a bit larger, but it's difficult to tell.

I'll largely be big-game hunting with value plays at these spots like Mobley, Love, Bol, and Dewayne Dedmon ($3,500) if Bam Adebayo sits, but Draymond Green ($5,700) and Al Horford ($5,500) are also projecting well in numberFire's model for added variety in tournaments.