NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 9/3/20

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-salaried 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 today.

OG Anunoby, SF, Toronto Raptors ($5,300)

OG Anunoby was drafted in the first round by the Toronto Raptors on the basis of his defense and upside, but in Game 2 on Tuesday, he surpassed all of the Raptors' All-Star level scorers and led them with 20 points in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics. That was a bubble-high scoring mark for Anunoby, as was his 12 shot attempts, but his offensive aggressiveness is not a new trend.

Anunoby has now scored in double figures in four of the last six games, and in addition, he has collected seven boards in three straight games. His counting stats are finally catching up to his heavy average of 33.5 minutes per game in the postseason, and he is projected to score 0.76 FanDuel points per minute on Thursday, which would exceed value if he saw his normal minutes.

Marcus Morris, PF, Los Angeles Clippers ($4,800)

Much was made of Marcus Morris stepping on the injured ankle of Luka Doncic in Game 5 of the Los Angeles Clippers' series with the Dallas Mavericks, and that attention may have earned Morris very little benefit of the doubt, as he was ejected early due to a flagrant foul in Game 6, which limited him to just 11 minutes in the contest.

That led to Ivica Zubac seeing 33 minutes in the middle for the Clippers, but the expectation is Morris will reclaim his role on Thursday -- a role that had him averaging 32.4 minutes per contest in the five games prior to his ejection. Morris was excellent for Los Angeles in those games, averaging a well-rounded 0.94 FanDuel points per minute, and Morris has exceeded 5.5-times FanDuel value in five of the last six games as a result.

Landry Shamet, SG, Los Angeles Clippers ($4,200)

The Clippers are unsure yet if they will have normal starting point guard Patrick Beverley to open their series with the Denver Nuggets, as Beverley is questionable for Game 1 with his lingering calf issue. It appears, however, if Beverley were to miss again, the Clippers have decided on Landry Shamet as the primary minutes beneficiary.

Shamet may be a better natural fit as a spot-up shooter next to the ball-dominant forward pairing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and Shamet has responded by shooting 55% in his last two starts.

With limited value inside the tight rotations of the four teams playing Thursday, Shamet and Torrey Craig ($4,200) are worth a look. Both saw more than 30 minutes in their last contest, and they are the same salary at the shooting guard spot.



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.