5 Daily Fantasy Basketball Value Plays for 12/14/16

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-priced options into your lineup.

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

Shelvin Mack, PG, Utah Jazz

FanDuel Price: $4,000
Projected FanDuel Points: 21.8
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.44

George Hill will miss yet another game tonight for the Utah Jazz, paving the way for Shelvin Mack at a value price. Utah hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game with an over/under of just 199. Utah, though, has an implied total of 102.25 as 5.5-point favorites. It's a bit concerning that Dante Exum started over Mack in their last game, but Mack still saw 27 minutes and produced 17.3 FanDuel points. Exum played just 21.

The Thunder are the second-best matchup for opposing point guards of the 20 teams in action tonight, so Mack should have a good chance at cash-game value. It'll be nicer if he's confirmed as the starter, of course.

J.R. Smith, SG, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $3,500
Projected FanDuel Points: 19.9
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.68

You can take your pick between J.R. Smith and DeAndre Liggins at shooting guard. Both are minimum salary on FanDuel, and both should see north of 30 minutes with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all ruled out tonight. Last night, against the same Memphis Grizzlies team, Smith netted 33.0 FanDuel points thanks to 23 points of his own, the first time he's cracked 20 all year and his fifth double-digit scoring game this season.

DeMarre Carroll, SF, Toronto Raptors

FanDuel Price: $4,300
Projected FanDuel Points: 21.7
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.05

Dollar-for-dollar, DeMarre Carroll projects to be our best small forward value of the night against the Philadelphia 76ers, who are the best matchup of the night for small forwards based on fantasy points allowed. The spread is 8.5 points in favor of the Toronto Raptors, but even in just 27 minutes, we project Carroll to reach cash-game value, something he's done in three of his past four games while playing between 25 and 33 minutes.

Omri Casspi, PF, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $4,400
Projected FanDuel Points: 23.6
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.35

Between Omri Casspi, Markieff Morris, Marvin Williams, and Channing Frye, power forward has plenty of value options tonight. Casspi, though, could be the safest bet. Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore are doubtful, and Matt Barnes has been scratched in two of his past three games, almost certainly because of off-court issues.

Casspi's price has jumped from $3,700 in his last game, but that'll happen when minutes spike from 20 to 30 and the production follows. Casspi has 25.7 and 24.0 FanDuel points in his past two games. There could be plenty of minutes for him tonight against the uptempo Houston Rockets.

Tristan Thompson, C, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $5,000
Projected FanDuel Points: 25.8
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.15

You can also go a lot of ways for value at center. There's Tristan Thompson, Bismack Biyombo, Salah Mejri, and Kosta Koufos so far who look like solid values, but Thompson shouldn't have to deal with a timeshare, something the other three can't necessarily say. Their implied total of 92.25 is gross, but without the Big Three in Cleveland, Thompson should push for huge minutes tonight. At $5,000, that's hard to ignore.