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 one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.
Let's take a look at some players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on FanDuel tonight, using numberFire's daily fantasy basketball projections as a guide.
Thomas Bryant, C, Los Angeles Lakers
FanDuel Salary: $5,900
Thomas Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are drawing a matchup against the Orlando Magic, and Bryant is going to be a starter with Anthony Davis still out of the lineup.
Bryant has seven starts under his belt this season. In his those seven games, he has averaged 27.1 minutes and 26.8 FanDuel points for a per-minute output of 0.99 FanDuel points.
The Magic are just 20th in defensive rating on the season, and in matchups against teams outside the top 10 in defensive rating, Bryant has taken advantage by putting up 1.09 FanDuel points per minute.
Onyeka Okongwu, C, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Salary: $5,800
We have a second center-only option just below $6,000, and if we are playing either Bryant or Onyeka Okongwu, then there is opportunity cost involved because we can't also play Nikola Jokic ($12,200). But we can't play him in every lineup, and if we're going to be open to pivoting and building around other studs, then Bryant and Okongwu should pique our interest.
Okongwu is in a similar boat as Bryant. Clint Capela's absence is pushing him into the starting lineup. In his starts, Okongwu averages 31.5 minutes and 28.5 FanDuel points per game (0.90 per minute) in three such games.
However, Okongwu's Atlanta Hawks have a really good game environment (a 238.5-point total and a 1.5-point spread). Ultimately, he ties for a top-five composite matchup of any player in action tonight.
Damion Lee, SG, Phoenix Suns
FanDuel Salary: $4,400
Once more, an injury to a key starter is leading to this recommendation. Devin Booker is out, and Damion Lee started two of three games without Booker recently (though not the most recent game). Landry Shamet started in that game, but he's also out.
As a result, Lee is projected as the top overall value play of the night by numberFire's model.
He's expected to play 32.0 minutes and accrue 24.9 FanDuel points for a value rating of 5.66 (FanDuel points per $1,000).
It's a big slate, but my simulation model has Lee as the most likely player to lead in value (10.8%).
Kenyon Martin Jr., SF/PF, Houston Rockets
FanDuel Salary: $4,200
There's huge blowout risk for the Houston Rockets against the Boston Celtics, but the value available on Kenyon Martin Jr. is good enough that we can still go there.
KJ has a minutes projection of 29.9 and a FanDuel point projection of 22.6, giving him the second-best value mark of the night at 5.39.
Martin Jr. actually has maintained a solid per-minute output against top-10 defenses (0.87 FanDuel points) when compared to his full-season average (0.83).
Over seven starts, Martin Jr. has averaged 30.4 minutes and 24.6 fantasy points.
Harrison Barnes, SF/PF, Sacramento Kings
FanDuel Salary: $5,600
When in doubt, we can always target games with high totals. None are higher than the 240.5-point total between the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets, a bottom-six defense.
We also have Domantas Sabonis listed as questionable, which could lead to a boost for Harrison Barnes.
With Sabonis on the floor, Barnes has a usage rate of 17.0%, via CourtIQ. Without him on the floor, that rate is 18.1%. While that's not elite in and of itself, Barnes brings us a floor of minutes into a great game environment with a chance for more touches if Sabonis sits.