FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 10/29/21

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

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

Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure 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.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, 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

With Halloween around the corner, it's fitting to call this slate "fun-sized" at seven games, but the injury news is closer to a "king-size."

The monumental, slate-shifting news would lie in Denver. Nikola Jokic suffered a knee contusion on Tuesday against the Jazz, and he missed the remainder of that game and was unable to practice on Thursday. He is officially listed as questionable, but the Nuggets' frontcourt would bust wide open for JaMychal Green, Jeff Green, and Zeke Nnaji.

On the other side of that game, Kristaps Porzingis is questionable with the back injury that saw him sidelined Thursday, and as we saw against the Spurs, the biggest minutes beneficiaries for Dallas were Reggie Bullock, Jalen Brunson, and Maxi Kleber.

The Lakers are no safe bet again after an embarrassing loss on Wednesday. LeBron James is listed questionable with an ankle injury again, but now off a sizable layoff, "King James" might be well-positioned to rejoin the lineup. If not, Malik Monk should start once more.

The final fresh bit of injury news is with the Indiana Pacers. Unfortunately, Malcolm Brogdon is already ruled out Friday with the hamstring injury he suffered on Wednesday. However, the team might see Caris LeVert return in his place; LeVert is questionable to make his season debut with a back injury. If LeVert goes, there is minimal impact, but T.J. McConnell and Brad Wanamaker could see boosts if both sit.

Guards

Luka Doncic ($10.700): In NBA daily fantasy, you have to both forgive and forget quickly sometimes. Yes, Doncic was terrible last night. His scoring (25 points) was actually around its normal mark, but he posted season-low marks in rebounds and assists with seven turnovers. Not great! The positive news is those rebounds and assists should return far closer to Doncic's averages moving forward considering his usage on Thursday (35.5%) was actually higher than normal. Deploy him with confidence once again on Friday; there's no other guard over $9,000 worth targeting if LeBron returns for L.A.

De'Aaron Fox ($8,000): In the next tier down from Doncic, the question becomes which fleeting point guard is the best potential buy low. Damian Lillard ($8,400) turned in another rotten performance as he continues to cede work to C.J. McCollum, so I would rather attempt to buy low on Fox eating into the surprising outburst from Harrison Barnes moving forward. Fox has a much higher usage rate (29.9%) on the Kings than Barnes (23.7%), but Fox (37.7% field goal percentage) is just scuffling badly from the field. If that turns around, "Swipa" likely posts more FanDuel points in a stable role.

T.J. McConnell ($5,900): With Brogdon out, McConnell should be plug-and-play chalk. I may get there as well, but there are plenty of warning signs to dispute numberFire's healthy projection for McConnell in 31.5 minutes. With Brogdon off the floor this year, he is ranked 9th of 10 Pacers players that have earned minutes within that floor condition in usage rate (15.7%). While McConnell always has the ability to post assists (7.52 per 36 minutes this season), there is also a path to standing and watching his more gifted teammates, and this is no small salary.

Others to Consider:
Damian Lillard ($8,400): This salary is a joke compared to his 2020-21 production, but despite healthy usage (29.8%), he hasn't been the same.
Reggie Jackson ($5,800): Minutes floor is excellent for this salary. A workable matchup with a Portland team he posted 29 FanDuel points against on Monday.
Jalen Brunson ($4,900): Consistent per-minute production (1.04 FanDuel points) that other Mavericks absolutely don't provide.
Brad Wanamaker ($3,800): My preferred way to access Indiana's backcourt. Lower ceiling with lower minutes but much higher usage without Brogdon (24.7%).

Wings

Paul George ($10,100): Thank you, PG13, for a dreadful shooting night for the Clippers on Wednesday. George went 6-for-20 from the field and didn't make any of the 8 three-pointers he took. That should reduce his popularity back in this dream matchup with Portland. George is still the clear alpha (31.8% usage; 1.48 FanDuel points per minute) for the Clips even with Wednesday's dud included. His per-minute production is well worth this salary in a vacuum but especially against a Blazers squad that is second in the league in pace.

Will Barton ($5,800): The Nuggets are tremendous targets at all levels tonight. It's significantly doubtful that Denver pushes Jokic with the concerning missed practices, and that will open up just about their entire rotation as plus value. Without Jokic on the floor this season, Will Barton has been easily the Nugs' top option. Barton sees an absurd 12.8 percentage-point increase in usage without Jokic on the floor, and he's turned that extra ball handling into 1.13 FanDuel Points per minute. He is the priority target if Jokic is ruled out, but anyone in a Denver jersey will do this evening.

Chris Duarte ($5,600): One of the sharpest pivots tonight in tournaments could be passing on McConnell for Duarte at a forward spot instead. The rookie paces Indiana (no pun intended) with a 28.2% usage rate in floor situations without Brogdon this season. Duarte (28 FanDuel points per game) has also produced to justify this salary practically -- not just in theory like McConnell's newfound bump. Duarte is in play even if Caris LeVert returns to the point guard spot as a top-five value option on the slate personally.

Others to Consider:
OG Anunoby ($7,200): Hard to ignore his 28.9% usage rate any longer. Appears to have taken a massive leap offensively this season.
Michael Porter Jr. ($6,800): The same argument as Barton, but usage increase (4.1 percentage points) is not as drastic. Higher salary, as well.
Dorian Finney-Smith ($4,700): DFS is actually more productive per minute this season (0.77 FanDuel points) than Tim Hardaway Jr. (0.72). Lower salary, too.
Jeremy Lamb ($3,700): If LeVert is out, do they unleash him into a monstrous bench role to fill McConnell's void? The most talent of the value Indiana options, but major role questions.

Bigs

Domantas Sabonis ($9,600): Assuming no blowouts or injuries, it is hard to see how Sabonis is not one of the top stars of the evening. With Brogdon hurt, Sabonis is Indiana's most productive player. Therefore, it was bizarre to see him just take four shots and earn a 12.7% usage rate on Wednesday. It just feels like something not worth overthinking, though, for Sabonis posted 1.37 FanDuel points per minute with a 23.7% usage rate without Brogdon on the floor last season. If Wednesday's dud reduces his popularity, I am all for it.

Maxi Kleber ($3,900): Daily fantasy players have been down this road with Kleber replacing Porzingis in the lineup, but it's different this time. Kleber is actually producing; he posted 12 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes for the Mavs on Thursday. Those marks intentionally ignored the six blocks that bloated his FanDuel points total (his first six of the season), but the counting stats might have enough weight to stick at this low salary. He is more of a backup plan on Friday in case the Nuggets' value options aren't in play due to Nikola Jokic returning to the lineup.

JaMychal Green ($3,800): If Jokic misses Friday, in every lineup, I want at least one of Denver's "Green" pairing. Jeff and JaMychal should see a ton of minutes in the frontcourt even if Michael Malone pulls Bol Bol into the starting lineup. JaMychal Green's 20.6% usage in floor situations is slightly better than Jeff's, and an educated guess would be that the Nuggets lean on the 6'11" JaMychal down low a touch more than the 6'8" Jeff. There are boatloads of usage and rebounds to be had without "The Joker," so the sharper play in tournaments could be to roster whichever Green has a lower projection on many sites.

Others to Consider:
Myles Turner ($5,700): Probably Indiana's second-most talented player without Brogdon and LeVert. Friendly salary. Already producing well (1.15 FanDuel points per minute) this season.
Aaron Gordon ($5,000): A lock to see 30-plus minutes with no Jokic. Role basically justifies this salary even if Jokic plays but likely sees a huge uptick without him.
Jeff Green ($3,700): Will likely not start, so potentially a sharp pivot off the chalkier Nuggets options.
Bol Bol ($3,500): Production monster (1.19 FanDuel points per minute) in limited action. Incredibly similar to a Boban Marjanovic lock button if he starts because he can exceed minimum salary value in 15 minutes.