3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 3/7/23

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 post 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?

Julius Randle, PF, Knicks ($10,000)

Down his co-star, Julius Randle could produce a monstrous night at the Mecca.

Randle was one of the few Knicks held quiet in Sunday's marquee win over the Boston Celtics, logging just 43.8 FanDuel points. There are reasons to believe Randle will have better days ahead without Jalen Brunson, who is questionable with a foot issue.

Randle holds team-best marks in usage rate (32.6%) and FanDuel points per 36 minutes (51.2) with Brunson off the floor. He's New York's top producer without their floor general, but even if Brunson suits up, there's another element to Orange Julius' forecast tonight.

The opposing Hornets are awful with big men. In their last 15 games, they're allowing the most FanDuel points per game to power forwards and the second-most to centers. Wherever Randle is slotted on the floor, he'll have a sublime matchup to attack.

New York is looking to win its 10th straight versus Charlotte, and a big night from Randle could go a long way toward making it happen.

Stephen Curry, PG, Warriors ($9,500)

Not only did Stephen Curry return to the lineup on Sunday, but he's also returning to the scene of one of his most famous crimes tonight.

Curry didn't get eased into action against the Lakers, either. He logged 32 minutes and dropped in 27 real-life points. While the rebounding and assisting was virtually non-existent in that first game back, Curry should lead the Warriors in FanDuel points most nights during their current floor condition.

Without Andrew Wiggins, Curry posts 50.5 FanDuel points per 36 minutes on a team-best 32.0% usage rate. Most notably of all, he squashes the production of Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole at their current salaries, so if you want to stack today's 243.0-point total in Oklahoma City, he's clearly the top option.

The Thunder allow the 11th-most FanDuel points per game to point guards, and importantly for Steph, they allow the 8th-most three-point attempts per game (35.8).

I'm not as high on this game as the total suggests, but Steph could be a golden piece inside of it.

Desmond Bane, SG/SF, Grizzlies ($8,200)

Other than the star-devoid Milwaukee Bucks, the Memphis Grizzlies are perhaps the most important team on the slate.

They're without Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke for quite different reasons in their date with the Lakers. Either way, the shorthanded Grizz will produce plenty of value in daily fantasy tonight, which is why I chose Desmond Bane out of a loaded and deserving set of star wings that also includes Anthony Edwards, Lauri Markkanen, and Mikal Bridges.

Bane is -- pretty indisputably -- Memphis' scoring leader without Ja. In the split, he posts a team-best 27.4 points per 36 minutes on a 28.7% usage rate. He trails only Jaren Jackson Jr. in both usage rate and FanDuel points per 36 minutes in that floor condition, but Jackson has more positional competition tonight with Randle and Anthony Davis for just three roster spots on FanDuel.

The 225.0-point total against the Lakers isn't wildly appealing, but Bane, Jackson, and Dillon Brooks are all grading well in our projections. Memphis will likely need hefty contributions from all given Tyus Jones is pretty unlikely to repeat his 25-point, 12-assist outlier from Sunday.