NBA

5 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 2/12/20

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Feb 12th, 2020
Kevin Porter is looking good as of late and has an ideal matchup against the Hawks. Can we look to him for a bit of value tonight?

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 in one of these lower-priced options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at five players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Ersan Ilyasova, PF, Milwaukee Bucks ($4,100)

With 11 games on the slate, there are plenty of value options, but this might be the easiest one.

We know that Giannis Antetokounmpo has already been ruled out for tonight's game, which will be his second straight missed game. This means we should be seeing Ersan Ilyasova in the starting lineup again, as he has been there throughout the season when Antetokounmpo is out. This should make him a clear option tonight since he is producing 1.02 FanDuel points per minute this season when Antetokounmpo is off the court. We likely won't see a massive ceiling from Ilyasova tonight, but you are locking in plenty of consistency.

Our projections have Ilyasova going for 24.25 FanDuel points in 24 minutes tonight against the Indiana Pacers, where the over/under is set at 222 points. This game also features a one-point spread, giving us a close matchup with a low chance for a blowout.

Kevin Porter, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers ($4,400)

The Cleveland Cavaliers have Kevin Love listed as questionable tonight, opening up some minutes in their rotation.

Kevin Porter Jr. is a clear bench player for the Cavaliers, but if Love is out, we should be seeing Larry Nance Jr. get the start. This would put Porter in a spot to be the first player off the bench for the Cavaliers, who have an elite matchup versus the Atlanta Hawks tonight. Atlanta comes in allowing 46.6 FanDuel points per game to opposing small forwards this season -- dead last in the league. We also have an over/under sitting at 234 points tonight, along with this being a pace-up spot for the Cavaliers.

Everything is coming together for Porter to continue producing off the bench. He has 20 FanDuel points or more in five of his last seven games. Extra rotational minutes, an amazing matchup, a super-high over/under, and a pace-up spot should make Porter a great value play tonight.

Mikal Bridges, SF, Phoenix Suns ($4,800)

Mikal Bridges has been playing a ton of minutes lately, and we all know that minutes equal money in NBA DFS.

The Phoenix Suns are dealing with a few injuries right now, and they need the players who are healthy to play a ton of minutes. That's been the case with Bridges, who has played 30 minutes or more in eight straight games -- right where we have him projected tonight (33 minutes). The volume of minutes are amazing for a player who is under $5K, but we do see him being unproductive at times with those high minutes. In this eight-game stretch, he has produced as low as 11.7 FanDuel points and as high as 42.2 FanDuel points.

That is a very wide range of outcomes for Bridges, but that is something you should be looking to embrace when it comes to tournaments. You can't roster that level of inconsistency in your cash lineups, but if the matchup is right, so he is an ideal tournament play. He is up against the Golden State Warriors, who are allowing 42.8 FanDuel points per game to small forwards, the third-most in the league.

Torrey Craig, SG, Denver Nuggets ($3,800)

Torrey Craig has been in the starting lineup for the Denver Nuggets recently and is under $4K.

With Will Barton out due to a knee injury, Craig has entered the starting lineup and is still very cheap. Over the past three games, Craig has posted 24, 13, and 25 FanDuel points while playing 36, 31, and 31 minutes. As you can see, he is clearly under one FanDuel point per minute in these games, but that is to be expected. Most of the offensive usage on the Nuggets goes to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, with the remaining players splitting whatever is left.

This has Craig producing a modest 0.63 FanDuel points per minute with a 12.3% usage rate. Those numbers don't jump off the page, but given the matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, he actually projects very well for us. We have him going for 32 minutes and 22 FanDuel points, making him the third-best value play on the entire slate.

Kyle Anderson, SF, Memphis Grizzlies ($4,700)

The Memphis Grizzlies made a few trades last week, and that has changed their starting lineup.

With Jae Crowder on the Miami Heat now, Memphis has put Kyle Anderson into the starting lineup, and he is starting to see the benefits. Anderson has played 26 minutes or more in three straight games, with 23 FanDuel points or more in two of those three games. That's strong production for a player stepping into the starting lineup and is what we should be seeing from him tonight with the over/under set at 235 points against the Portland Trail Blazers. We also see both teams sitting in the top-12 fastest-paced teams this season, setting us up for the fantasy game of the night.

We have Anderson projected 27 minutes and 24.8 FanDuel points, breaking 5x value and making him a strong value play tonight.