FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 4/24/23

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

We dodged a bullet. Monday's injury report seems rather tame now, so we can largely play this two-game slate straight up.

Milwaukee is expected to get back Giannis Antetokounmpo (back) for this one -- now trailing in this series. Miami also has Jimmy Butler (glute) listed as questionable, but he's also expected to play.

It's worth noting Bam Adebayo (hamstring) is listed as probable, and unfortunately, the Heat also lost Victor Oladipo (knee) to a season-ending injury on Saturday.

With Ja Morant now back for the Grizzlies, the nightcap is much cleaner. A trio of Lakers just have the same probable status they've held all series.

Guards

The return of Ja Morant ($10,500) seems to have dramatically impacted this slate.

Morant wasted no time returning with a 34.0% usage rate in Game 3, and he parlayed that into 45 points and 13 assists. Accepting or rejecting that role is crucial to the slate as he squashed nearly every other Memphis alternative at salary while doing so.

Even with Giannis back, Jrue Holiday ($8,900) is a good look. He averaged 42.2 FanDuel points per 36 minutes as a whole. He still logged 35 minutes in a Game 3 that was largely decided through three quarters, too.

Kyle Lowry ($4,500) logged 27 minutes to just 17 minutes for Gabe Vincent in Game 3. It's worth mentioning that I can't imagine the Heat would go down with him on the bench if Butler were to sit. Max Strus ($4,600) and Duncan Robinson ($3,800) also eclipsed 23 minutes, and we know the sharpshooters can light it up in a hurry.

D'Angelo Russell ($6,300), Austin Reaves ($5,800), and Dennis Schroder ($4,600) were the L.A. guards to log at least 20 minutes on the court in Game 3. The former two surpassed 30.

Wings

Giannis is unplayable on FanDuel today largely as the victim of just not playing. We've seen scoring plummet overall in these NBA playoffs, so holding his salary from the regular season, it's just not likely the muddy environment can get him to 60 FanDuel points at a median -- even free of restrictions.

Jimmy Butler ($9,600) definitely isn't. Butler posted 59.1 FanDuel points per 36 minutes on Saturday, but he left the game early with the injury he's listed with currently. If he's deemed good to go, we should be, too.

Of course, LeBron James ($10,700) is also in the top tier at small forward, and he's yet to eclipse 52 FanDuel points thus far. He'll likely go under the radar between Giannis and the chalky Butler.

Desmond Bane ($7,100) is the poster child of the slate for accepting or rejecting Morant's hot return. He's now below his season-long median salary after another dud in Game 3, but he still logged 32 minutes. Dillon Brooks ($5,100) is so inefficient that he's difficult to target even if he somehow keeps his ineffective minutes. Luke Kennard ($4,200) would be on the table if he doesn't.

The only wing under $5,000 to crack 30 minutes on Saturday was Miami's Caleb Martin ($4,800), but Milwaukee's trio of Pat Connaughton ($4,900), Grayson Allen ($4,500), and Joe Ingles ($4,400) all topped at least 23. I'd prioritize Allen, the starter, over the others. I'd also expect Connaughton to scale back with Giannis returning.

Bigs

The quotable Hassan Whiteside once said he was the only one doing it with blocks. Anthony Davis is doing it with stocks.

A stock is a steal plus block, and Davis is averaging 6.7 stocks per game in this series thus far. He averaged 3.3 per 36 in the regular season, so it is part of the All-NBA defender's equation, but he's absolutely overperformed what's largely a stat prone to luck and playing time -- both of which are more vulnerable if the scores widen in this series at any point. I'd like a more reliable producer for $12,000 in salary.

For example, Jaren Jackson Jr. ($8,500) averaged 5.12 stocks per 36 in the regular season. If that's the upside to chase in a full-time role, why not do it at a $3,500 discount? Plus, Jackson's best game of this series (51 FanDuel points) came with Morant, so he's less affected than other Grizzlies.

Behind those two, Bam Adebayo ($7,800) has topped 36 FanDuel points in all but one of Miami's five must-win postseason games thus far. He's really our lone mid-range option with Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis hampered by Giannis' return.

Value obviously starts with Xavier Tillman ($5,700), who has slammed the door shut on Memphis' frontcourt battle with 39 minutes in Game 3.

Kevin Love ($4,100) is also still seeing approximately 20 minutes for Miami, and his salary is low enough for darts with a rate of 33.0 FanDuel points per 36 since joining the Heat. You could also roll the dice on a hot start from Jarred Vanderbilt ($4,300) shifting the split platoon with Rui Hachimura in his direction for a night.