NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Thursday 3/2/23

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 one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at some players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on FanDuel tonight, using numberFire's daily fantasy basketball projections as a guide.

T.J. McConnell, PG, Pacers ($4,700)

If Tyrese Haliburton -- who is questionable -- is eventually ruled out, T.J. McConnell will become an amazing value piece.

If Haliburton plays, McConnell is nothing more than a dart throw, but McConnell has been so productive sans Haliburton that I thought it was worth writing him up just in case. (Plus, there aren't many good value plays as of early Thursday afternoon.)

With Haliburton off the court this year, McConnell has generated 1.08 FanDuel points per minute and 38.9 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, according to CourtIQ.

On top of that, a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs is about as good as it gets. The Spurs have surrendered the third-most FanDuel points per night to point guards (52.4) over the last 30 days. The game boasts a slate-leading 238.0-point total and 5.0-point spread.

Our model accounts for Haliburton playing and currently has McConnell projected for 17.3 FanDuel points, but if Haliburton sits, McConnell will jump to the front of the line among the night's top value plays.

If Haliburton plays, you can still turn to Bennedict Mathurin ($5,200) and/or Buddy Hield ($5,900) as sources of value from the Indiana Pacers.

Delon Wright, PG/SG, Wizards ($5,000)

If we don't get any unexpected injury news and Haliburton suits up, value is going to be tough to come by tonight.

Delon Wright is a good guy to turn to.

He should maintain his full-time role with Monte Morris out. Wright has logged between 28 and 30 minutes in four of the past five games, going for at least 27.0 FanDuel points three times in that span.

The Toronto Raptors' once-stingy defense is a thing of the past as they rank in the middle of the pack by defensive rating. This game's 222.5-point total is a slate-low by a healthy margin, but when it comes to value tonight, we won't be able to be too picky.

Our projections have Wright totaling 26.2 FanDuel points -- good for 5.24 per $1,000.

Charles Bassey, C, Spurs ($4,800)

I'm going to toss a dart at Charles Bassey.

We already broke down the juicy game environment in the Spurs-Pacers clash, and the matchup is a good one for Bassey. Indiana has allowed the eighth-most FanDuel points per game to centers (56.2) across the past 30 days.

Bassey has topped out at 21 minutes over the past five games, which isn't ideal, obviously. But the per-minute production has been there as his per-game averages in that stretch are 24.3 FanDuel points and 16.0 minutes.

We project him for 22.1 FanDuel points in 17.5 minutes, and if injury news stays quiet, he's an acceptable salary-saver.