3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 1/10/23

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 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 an excellent 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 will likely leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.

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

Pascal Siakam, PF/C, Raptors ($9,500)

We'll have plenty of salary to spend with today's luscious group of value options, but two of the four guys above $10,000 may not even play.

Even with the Raptors at full strength, you shouldn't count out a monster effort from Pascal Siakam at this reduced salary from last week. Siakam's got the best matchup in the sport for a center.

The Hornets allow the most FanDuel points per game to opposing pivots. They also have the fourth-worst defensive rating overall (114.6), and they're bottom 10 in second-chance and paint points allowed per game.

Siakam's salary reduction was warranted. With Toronto's lineup whole, he's averaged 45.9 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, logging at least 37 minutes in 15 straight games. Given the matchup, he's more than justifiable at salary.

Joel Embiid is worth a look if he suits up against the lowly Pistons, but I'll squeeze in Siakam first in this sublime matchup.

Jimmy Butler, SF/PF, Heat ($9,000)

The Miami Heat injury report often reads like a CVS receipt, and they're at it again on Tuesday.

Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Kyle Lowry will all miss tonight's game against Oklahoma City. That'll leave Jimmy Butler as the only active usual starter on the squad.

When Jimbo's been tasked with carrying Miami's reserves, it's gone well for him in terms of fantasy production. He's posted 50.9 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with the others off the court on a team-best 25.6% usage rate.

This is a massive pace-up spot for the home team, too. The Heat, who play at the league's 26th-fastest pace, will see a few more possessions against a Thunder team that's 2nd in that category.

Kawhi Leonard is also going to lead a shorthanded Clippers squad at the top of small forward, but Butler's number of missing teammates and matchup outweigh Kawhi's significantly.

Donovan Mitchell, SG/PG, Cavaliers ($8,900)

The game of the day is in Utah, and it's not solely due to a tight, three-point spread.

Donovan Mitchell makes his return to Salt Lake City for the first time since getting traded this offseason. It's a sublime matchup for Mitchell to score, but some might not believe that. Back in Cleveland, Mitchell only played 23 minutes in a three-quarter blowout. He still dropped 23 points in that time.

The Jazz allow the sixth-most FanDuel points per game to shooting guards, and Mitchell's elite usage rate (31.2%) should give him plenty of chances to take advantage of that positional defense. Expect the usage rate to be a bit higher in his old stomping grounds, too.

It was eight days ago that Mitchell dropped 71 points against the Bulls, but he's surrounded an off day with two clunkers since. Back below his median 2022-23 salary, Donnie Mitch headlines a pretty solid top tier at guard that also includes Damian Lillard.