NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Thursday 12/23/21

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Dec 23rd, 2021

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-salaried options into your lineup.

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

Brad Wanamaker, PG, Indiana Pacers ($3,700)

With Malcolm Brogdon listed as questionable and T.J. McConnell out, Brad Wanamaker should see big minutes tonight.

While the Indiana Pacers don't have any players in the league's health and safety protocol, they are still dealing with a few injuries. This should put Wanamaker in a spot to see close to 30 minutes if we get final confirmation that Brogdon is ruled out. If that is going to be the case, Wanamaker could be in for a bit night since he has a very soft matchup against the Houston Rockets, who are allowing 50.10 FanDuel points per game to point guards, which is the second-worst in the league.

This game has a very solid 222.5-point over/under and a 9.0-point spread in favor of the Pacers. This is also a pace-up spot for Indiana (20th) since the Rockets (4th) are one of the fastest teams in the league. All of this spells good news for Wanamaker, who can easily exceed value tonight with this matchup.

Willy Hernangomez, C/PF, New Orleans Pelicans ($4,600)

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to be without Jonas Valanciunas, putting Willy Hernangomez in a spot to be the starting center.

When Valanciunas is off the court this season, Hernangomez is holding a 20.4% offensive usage rate and is producing 0.94 FanDuel points per minute. This should make him a bit of a priority tonight since he going up against the Orlando Magic, who are allowing the sixth-most (55.60) FanDuel points per game to opposing centers. This game has a 209.5-point over/under and a 6.0-point spread, which is on the lower end for this slate, but the matchup is too good to pass up.

We see Hernangomez projected for 27.90 minutes and 31.5 FanDuel points, making him the third-best value option on the entire slate and the top value option at power forward. Even though he will the starting center for the Pelicans, you should aim to roster him at power forward so your lineups aren't blocked from also rostering Nikola Jokic.

Delon Wright, PG, Atlanta Hawks ($4,500)

The Atlanta Hawks are going to be without eight players tonight, opening up plenty of minutes for Delon Wright.

Wright played a big 38 minutes last night against the Magic and that lead to him posting 25.4 FanDuel points. While that is under 1.00 FanDuel points per minute, he is exceeding his salary-based value, something he should be able to again tonight. Wright is projected for 32.82 minutes and 31.3 FanDuel points, making him the second-best value option on the slate, and the top value option among guards.

The matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers has a 208.5-point over/under and a 10.5-point spread, which aren't amazing, but the volume of minutes Wright should be seeing is undeniable.