3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 10/29/19

Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.

A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down. A high-priced NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.

While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.

Let's get right into it and look at which top players should be the focal points of your lineups tonight.

Anthony Davis, PF, Los Angeles Lakers ($12,300)

Anthony Davis hasn't had a true blow-up game yet this year, and his salary is well above anyone else's on the slate. Still, his ceiling is well worth paying up for with only three games on tap tonight.

His 1.54 FanDuel points per minute this year are on pace to be the second-most of his career (behind only his 2018-19 mark), and playing alongside another superstar doesn't seem to be holding him back much.

Tonight's matchup is also quietly a terrific one. Not the Grizzlies of years past, Memphis has opened the year playing at the second-highest pace in the NBA, and it doesn't look like a fluke, as their 108.6 mark isn't far off the 107.1 they posted in the preseason.

Davis had nine games with 80-plus FanDuel points his prior two seasons, which was second in the NBA and blew away the third-place tally of three such games. He was also one of only two players to post multiple 90-plus fantasy point performances tied that time, tied for first with three. His ceiling is nearly unmatched, giving him true slate-breaking upside on a short slate like this one.

Luka Doncic, PG, Dallas Mavericks ($10,400)

The Luka Doncic sophomore breakout party is well underway. He's one of only five players averaging at least 55.5 FanDuel points per game on the young season, and we've seen his production increase in each game. That was capped off with 61.9 fantasy points (the second-most of his career) in his last outing.

He's playing a huge role in the Dallas Mavericks offense, with a 31.9% usage rate, and is turning that workload into 29.1 points and 7.3 assists per 36 minutes, to go along with 10.2 boards and 2.3 steals.

He gets a tough matchup tonight against the Denver Nuggets, who are on pace for a top-10 defense rate for the second straight season, but we can't be as picky about matchups on short slates as we can with more games to choose from.

Jimmy Butler, SG, Miami Heat ($9,000)

Jimmy Butler is set to make his season debut after sitting the first three games for personal reasons, and Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has indicated that Butler will be a full-go for his Heat debut.

Butler should step in and play a huge role immediately in a Miami offense that hasn't had a true focal point to start the year. The Heat have had five players (including four starters) sport usage rates between 19% and 26%.

It's been a while since we've seen Butler as the focal point of an offense, but back in the 2016-17 season, he put up 26.5% usage, and even then, he was a number-two option to Dwyane Wade. That year saw him average a career-best 1.20 FanDuel points per minute and 44.4 per game. Butler's ceiling could be even higher in Miami, where he will play second fiddle to no one on the offensive end.

The Atlanta Hawks have proven to be a tougher matchup through three games this season then they've been for the last couple years, but the Heat still have a slate-best 115.75-point implied total, positioning Butler well to debut with a bang tonight.

Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.