3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Tuesday 3/21/23
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.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, SG/SF, Hawks
FanDuel Salary: $5,200
Dejounte Murray is out today, which should push Bogdan Bogdanovic into the starting lineup.
With Murray off the court this season, Bogdanovic owns a 22.0% usage rate -- second on the team among regulars -- and has produced 32.7 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, according to CourtIQ.
He draws a pretty perfect matchup with the Detroit Pistons, a team that has surrendered the third-most FanDuel points per night to two-guards this year (44.4). The Pistons are 28th in defensive rating for the campaign.
We project Bogdanovic for 27.9 FanDuel points, which amounts to 5.37 per $1,000. On a night without many smashing values, he's a nice low-salary option.
Marcus Smart, PG, Celtics
FanDuel Salary: $5,600
Our model loves Marcus Smart today. I'm not quite as bullish on Smart as our projections are, but I do like him as a low-salary way to get a piece of the night's premier game environment.
The Boston Celtics-Sacramento Kings clash has a 239.5-point total and 5.0-point spread. We've seen the Kings take part in some big-time shootouts this year, and with Sacramento on the second half of a back-to-back after playing in Utah last night, their already poor defense -- which is 27th in defensive rating over the last 10 games -- could be even leakier.
Smart has logged at least 34 minutes in three of his previous four games, and our algorithm has him as the night's best point-per-dollar play (as of Tuesday afternoon), forecasting him to score 30.5 FanDuel points (5.44 per $1,000).
Sandro Mamukelashvili, PF/C, Spurs
FanDuel Salary: $5,100
The tank is on for the San Antonio Spurs, and Sandro Mamukelashvili has been a beneficiary.
That should be the case once more as Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Charles Bassey and Zach Collins are already out, with Devonte' Graham listed as questionable.
Mamukelashvili has been a quality per-minute fantasy play of late. Across his past two games, he's generated 52.5 FanDuel points over 40 minutes. We have him getting 27.2 minutes tonight, and if Mamukelashvili gets that kind of run, our model's projection of 26.0 FanDuel points (5.11 per $1,000) might prove to be a little light.
He's up against a New Orleans Pelicans team that has conceded the 13th-most FanDuel points per night to centers over the last 15 games (56.0).
