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 be coming 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
| Away | Home | GameTotal | AwayImpliedTotal | HomeImpliedTotal | AwayPace | HomePace |
| San Antonio | New Orleans | 228 | 109.8 | 118.3 | 9 | 11 |
| Washington | Utah | 229.5 | 111.5 | 118.0 | 18 | 10 |
Even with two games, what would an NBA main slate be without a star on the injury report?
Zion Williamson won't play for the Pelicans due to COVID-19 protocols. Larry Nance Jr. (Achilles) is also questionable, and the team is still without Brandon Ingram, too.
The Spurs are traveling to NOLA, and they'll likely be down Keldon Johnson (hamstring), who is doubtful to play.
Kristaps Porzingis (non-COVID illness) is questionable for the Wizards in the nightcap. They're in Utah, and the Jazz will be missing Kelly Olynyk (ankle) again. Collin Sexton (hamstring) is questionable.
Guards
Especially if we don't get word on Porzingis before lock, Bradley Beal ($9,000) might be a tournament-winning zag.
Beal sees a team-best lift of 5.55 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with Porzingis off the floor this year. Oddly enough, the exact opposite happens toC.J. McCollum ($8,500) -- who should be much more popular -- in his expected floor condition today.
Without Zion and Ingram, McCollum sees a drop of 0.74 FanDuel points per 36. But, if you think about it, the Pels' offense takes a major step back (-7.3 net rating) with them off the floor, and McCollum faces double teams.
Above both if necessary, I actively want to get to Devin Vassell ($7,000), who averages 41.9 FanDuel points per 36 with Keldon Johnson off the floor. He could very well outscore the lead guys.
The mid-range has Tre Jones ($6,300) and Mike Conley ($5,700) projected well for salary savers in this area, but I'd add Monte Morris ($5,500) to that list if Porzingis is ruled out, too.
Wings
Wing also has guys that would be viable at salary on a full slate.
Kyle Kuzma ($8,300) definitely works if K.P. sits, averaging 38.3 FanDuel points per 36 on a team-best 31.6% usage rate with Porzingis off the floor. He's scoring-reliant, but he also could drop 30 and 10 boards on a Jazz team that struggles with size. I'll fade him entirely if Porzingis plays.
Opposite him, Lauri Markkanen ($8,200) just dropped 38 real-life points himself. The lack of peripheral stats didn't turn that into a huge FanDuel outing, but it's not hard to envision him over 45 FanDuel points and in a perfect lineup.
If not McCollum, who benefits when Zion and Ingram are off the floor? In short, just Naji Marshall ($4,600). His boost of 3.93 FanDuel points per 36 minutes is the best on the squad, and he'll likely start for Zion tonight. I'm also not opposed to Trey Murphy III ($5,200) or Herbert Jones ($5,000) despite odd decreases in that floor condition so far.
Deni Avdija ($5,700) isn't a value as much as viable if Porzingis sits, but his absence locked Avdija into 36 minutes last time out. He's really the standout in an otherwise ugly value tier outside of the Pels guys.
San Antonio and Utah tend to alternate wings randomly. You'll kill a large chunk of tournament lineups trying to guess who emerges there; New Orleans is a much clearer picture.
Bigs
Kristaps Porzingis ($9,900) is the straw that stirs the drink on this slate. If he plays, he squashes most of his Wizards' teammates at salary.
Averaging 46.4 FanDuel points per 36 with everyone healthy, Porzingis wouldn't be desirable if not for his matchup. We've seen bigs torch Utah (second-most FanDuel points allowed to centers) to a point we can't ignore him, though. If K.P. sits, Daniel Gafford ($5,300) should start in his place and be a supreme value.
Jonas Valanciunas ($6,600) is really the lone Pelican not impacted by Zion. Rather, he needs Nance Jr. to sit because without him last game, he was freed into 37 minutes and made the most of that workload with 67.1 FanDuel points. An unbenchable J.V. on a short slate isn't someone I'll fade if Nance is out.
If it shakes out with Porzingis and Nance out, that's a brutal decision at the pivot. The defensive-minded Walker Kessler ($5,700) is projecting well, too. It needs to be one of those guys at center.
At power forward, Olynyk's absence launched Jarred Vanderbilt ($6,800) into a 32-minute role last time out. Like Valanciunas, he's been more volatile due to playing time than per-minute production (1.03 FanDuel points), so he's a must-have on this short slate, as well.
Keita Bates-Diop ($4,700) also seems to be the most stable way to attack the Keldon injury. He's logged at least 23 minutes in three straight games starting.