3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/3/20

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.

LeBron James, SF, Los Angeles Lakers ($10,000)

Okay, take three on the Los Angeles Lakers' franchise player. Even despite the game-winning basket on Thursday, LeBron has struggled to find himself inside the Orlando bubble. Though he has yet to eclipse 40.75 FanDuel points in his games so far, there is still an argument for the Lakers' star. He still has a phenomenal 39.2% usage in these games and sees the ailing Utah Jazz in this one. Utah is still licking their wounds from a bashing by the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose floor general, Chris Paul, was able to post 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in only three quarters.

Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($8,900)

Another star looking to rebound is Jokic after the Denver Nuggets were demolished by Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on Saturday. Jokic had a poor performance given the conditions, but he still has a phenomenal usage rate without Jamal Murray, and the guard sure appears doubtful to suit up against the Thunder with his lingering hamstring injury. Jokic should have a better performance on Monday, closer to his 28-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist outburst against Oklahoma City earlier this year, and that was with Murray occupying more usage.

Ben Simmons, PG, Philadelphia 76ers ($8,100)

The San Antonio Spurs are winning inside the bubble, though they are struggling with point guards that can attack the rim. In albeit just a two-game sample, they surrendered an average of 34 points, 7.5 assists, and 6 rebounds to De'Aaron Fox and Ja Morant. Enter one of the best point guards in the league at attacking the rim and posting triple-doubles in Simmons, and that could spell trouble for the Spurs. Simmons also may be slightly too cheap in this great matchup, as he has been incredibly consistent, not scoring under 39 FanDuel points in any of his last six games.

Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username ASwaim3. 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.