FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 5/2/23

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, daily fantasy basketball would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also come at you with this primer daily, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

Will he play, or will he sit? That's the great question on today's injury report.

Of course, "he" is Jimmy Butler, who sprained his ankle in Miami's Game 1 win over the Knicks. It's fairly even, though. New York has Jalen Brunson (ankle) and Julius Randle (ankle) listed as questionable, and Randle appears in as much danger of sitting considering he did in Game 1.

There are no questionable listings in the nightcap between Los Angeles and Golden State.

Guards

How much will the Warriors put on Stephen Curry ($10,200) after surviving on Sunday?

Golden State's otherwise-deep scoring rotation was all about Steph in Game 7 as he held a 41.7% usage rate. He's gotten a large boost in salary but still projects well in our model. The same can be said for his splash brother, Klay Thompson ($6,200). Thompson should improve 4-for-19 shooting (21.1%) that dropped his salary to here.

D'Angelo Russell ($6,900) closed out Memphis with 31 real-life points, and L.A. did give him 17 shots to do so. At salary, Dennis Schroder ($4,200) is still potentially in line to take his late-game minutes and should be popular.

Gabe Vincent ($5,600) is well above his season-long production rate (24.1 FanDuel points per 36 minutes) but did log 31 minutes on the court in Game 1. He'll likely be less popular than Kyle Lowry ($5,400), who logged 29 minutes himself. They're still decent value propositions.

Even despite the ankle issue, Brunson hasn't eclipsed 40 FanDuel points in consecutive games without Randle. His salary is a bit tough to justify, but Immanuel Quickley ($4,700) could be of aid as a value play after 23 minutes in Game 1.

Jordan Poole ($5,500) also sees decent minutes for the Dubs with his dropping salary.

Wings

Since he was at shootaround with positive reports, Jimmy Butler ($9,900) appears trending toward giving it a go tonight. That's crucial news for the daily fantasy slate with Butler averaging 51.6 FanDuel points per 36 this postseason. It's second on the slate at a four-digit salary.

LeBron James ($10,500) is a total boom-or-bust play at next-to-no popularity. He did need 20 rebounds to eclipse the 52 FanDuel points you'd hope for at his salary, but perhaps an old rival brings a usage bump out of the king.

Consistency in the mid-range could be key, and Andrew Wiggins ($7,100) has it. He's been over 30 FanDuel points in every game since returning to the starting lineup. RJ Barrett ($7,200), encroaching 40 minutes per game, has beaten that mark in his last four, and Austin Reaves ($6,800) has in his past three, as well. Barrett's lower game total -- and a potentially returning Randle -- could hurt him.

Josh Hart ($5,600) is numberFire's top overall player, appearing to usurp Quentin Grimes once and for all in the Knicks' rotation.

Miami's gaggle of wings is likely the next stop down for value. Caleb Martin ($5,500) led them in minutes in Game 1 (31) as they leaned on Vincent and Lowry, but Max Strus ($4,700) logged 23 and starts with the chance for a hot start from deep. Duncan Robinson ($4,000) would be a longshot that might be best served in a blowout angle.

Bigs

The blowout last game against Memphis undersold Anthony Davis ($11,500) on FanDuel.

Davis does lead the slate in FanDuel points per 36 minutes (54.3) with the upside to dominate a smaller Golden State squad with the third-worst defensive rebounding rate (66.1%) in the first round.

Julius Randle ($7,400) could truly be the straw that stirs the drink on this slate, but I'd guess he sits. Of course, Obi Toppin ($5,100) would vault to the most popular play on the slate in his stead. Mitchell Robinson ($6,300) has also logged at least 33 minutes in back-to-back games he didn't play, and Robinson destroyed the main slate on Wednesday with 18 rebounds.

Outside of a triple-double to close out Milwaukee, Bam Adebayo ($8,500) hasn't topped 45 FanDuel points in the playoffs otherwise. Robinson held him to eight boards last time out. He's still Miami's secondary leader in usage rate (26.1%) who should be less popular in tournaments.

With at least 13 boards in his last five, Kevon Looney ($7,000) has a high floor that could be worth his elevated salary on a topsy-turvy slate. Draymond Green ($7,400) should push above 30 minutes, too.

From there, we'll be forced to darts at sub-25-minute roles like Kevin Love ($5,300), Rui Hachimura ($4,800), and Jarred Vanderbilt ($4,700) for value, but one could pay off huge if Toppin duds.