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.
Daniel Gafford, C, Washington Wizards
FanDuel Salary: $5,600
There's a lot of opportunity cost tonight at center, as we have Nikola Jokic in a likely eruption spot, but we're also probably not literally locking Joker into literally every lineup.
When we're not rostering the MVP, we can look to Daniel Gafford. Gafford and the Washington Wizards face the New Orleans Pelicans in a game with a one-point spread, so we could get some extended run for the starters.
Gafford has started nine straight games, a span during which he has averaged 24.5 minutes and 26.2 FanDuel points (1.07 per minute). That's a good output for the salary, and this game environment is a positive one.
Malcolm Brogdon, PG/SG, Boston Celtics
Grant Williams, PF, Boston Celtics
Brogdon FanDuel Salary: $5,800
Williams FanDuel Salary: $4,300
With Marcus Smart doubtful, a few Boston Celtics stand to benefit.
Without Smart on the floor, Malcolm Brogdon has a 26.1% usage rate and a per-minute average of 1.13 FanDuel points over 487.1 minutes, via CourtIQ. Grant Williams remains a lower-usage player (14.0% and 0.74, respectively).
That being said, in four games Smart has missed so far this season, Williams started all four and averaged 28.6 minutes and 19.5 FanDuel points in them.
In three games that Brogdon was also active that Smart missed, Brogdon averaged 26.7 minutes and 30.6 FanDuel points (1.14 per minute).
Brogdon (and teammate Al Horford) are both top-five projected value plays, via numberFire's model. Williams rates out well and opens up more salary.
Michael Porter Jr., PF/SF, Denver Nuggets
FanDuel Salary: $5,500
Michael Porter Jr. is projected for 30.0 minutes and 28.5 FanDuel points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are just 17th in defensive rating. That game has a 241.0-point total, best of the night -- albeit with a double-digit spread.
MPJ has been very matchup-dependent this season, so this is all very good news.
In games against teams ranked 11th to 20th in defensive rating, Porter Jr. has averaged 0.90 FanDuel points per minute. Against top-10 teams, he's at just 0.69. (And in case you're curious, against teams in the bottom 10, he's at 1.13).
We can expect him to take advantage over the 30 minutes he should play.
Trey Murphy III, SF, New Orleans Pelicans
FanDuel Salary: $4,500
We can't really link Trey Murphy III and Naji Marshall ($6,000) any longer, as Marshall has taken the leap with back-to-back 40-point fantasy outings, thus boosting his salary drastically.
Meanwhile, Murphy III is on the downswing and has not produced more than 20 FanDuel points in six straight games -- despite solid minutes.
Murphy III, though, is in that aforementioned Wizards/Pelicans game with a tight spread. He holds a minutes projection of 32.1 in our model here at numberFire, and he's expected to get back on track with the production.
His 26.1 projected FanDuel points give him a value expectation of 5.80, the best of the entire night.