3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 3/10/23
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 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?
Nikola Jokic, C, Nuggets ($11,700)
Nikola Jokic's slump could end in emphatic fashion tonight.
Amidst some blowouts and difficult matchups, Jokic's salary has tumbled back below $12,000 after he's failed to eclipse 60 FanDuel points in 9 of his past 11 games. While the blowout concerns are present again today, I'm optimistic San Antonio hangs within a 12.0-point spread. For all their success at home, Denver has a poor -3.1 net rating on the road.
If he's afforded a full complement of minutes, Jokic should detonate this matchup. The Spurs have allowed the second-most FanDuel points per game to centers on the season, and they've allowed the most per game since trading away Jakob Poeltl on February 9th.
The 236.5-point game total in San Antonio is the second-highest of the day, so Jokic and the Nuggets should put up plenty of points. He could stand to put forth another statement game as the red-hot MVP debate carries on.
Anthony Edwards, SG/SF, Timberwolves ($8,800)
Players aren't "due" for production in the NBA if their role stinks, the talent isn't present, or they're historically inefficient.
None of those labels apply to Anthony Edwards, who has battled a cold slump and might truly be "due" for regression soon. Edwards' usage since the trade deadline has remained a sturdy 30.2%, but he battled 42.5% shooting in February, and when he finally broke through for 32 points on Tuesday, he tallied just one assist.
If it's not been one thing holding Edwards back in DFS, it's been another.
This matchup with the new-look Brooklyn Nets could help him tie the pieces together. Brooklyn is allowing the second-most FanDuel points per game to shooting guards over their last seven contests.
This slate has really poor value with minimal injuries, so we could badly use lower-salaried studs with immense upside. Minnesota's franchise player fits that bill, having eclipsed 50 FanDuel points seven times in 2023 thus far.
Dejounte Murray, SG/PG, Hawks ($8,500)
Atlanta and Washington played a close contest with 242 total points on Wednesday, and the rematch on Friday is set up as today's highest projected total (238.0).
The problem is that most stars in that game went nuclear, thereby raising their salaries. Dejounte Murray was the lone ranger left behind, but there's reason to believe in his upside today.
Murray managed to crawl his way to 38.3 FanDuel points in the first clash while fighting 5-for-16 shooting (31.3%). That's the risk with rostering a guy who has posted 53.2% of his FanDuel production from scoring the ball this year.
Efficiency is usually one of his perks. He's a 46.7% shooter this year, and that mark was 49.3% in February. We can reasonably chalk Wednesday up to a cold night at the office.
numberFire's model is optimistic Murray turns it around today, awarding him the best value score for a guard above $8,000. In the DFS game of the night, he'll likely be my highest-drafted stud on this slate.
