3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 1/14/21
A major key to success in daily fantasy basketball is uncovering potential value plays. If you're looking to roster a stud or two, you need to consider squeezing one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.
Let's take a look at three players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on DraftKings tonight.
Precious Achiuwa, PF/C, Miami Heat
DraftKings Salary: $4,400
The Miami Heat are still down several players heading into Thursday night. That includes the likes of big men Bam Adebayo, Meyers Leonard, and Udonis Haslem, which puts Precious Achiuwa in a spot to start and play big minutes for a second straight game.
Last time out, and under similar circumstances, the rookie center put up 17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block in 36 minutes. His 39.75 DraftKings points brought back 12.8 points per $1,000, and he's now averaging a cool 0.99 DK points per minute on the season to date.
A matchup with Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers doesn't do much for Achiuwa's ceiling, but he could be forced to play 35 minutes, particularly because of the matchup with Embiid. Achiuwa will be a very popular value play, so while he's a solid cash game option, you'd be wise to look elsewhere for tournament formats.
Ben McLemore, SG, Houston Rockets
DraftKings Salary: $3,400
Unlike the many teams dealing with depleted rosters, the Houston Rockets are dealing with one massive opening as a product of their doing. In reportedly trading James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, Houston will be absent the Beard, his 36.3 minutes and 28.9% usage rate, meaning more opportunities for others to play and produce fantasy points.
Ben McLemore is among the top candidates to soak up some usage and shots. Of the remaining players, he is fifth in usage (21.6%) among usual rotation players, thanks to his 7.0 shots a game (5.7 from deep). He's turned that into 10.7 points and 17.6 DK points on a per-game basis through only three games, which breaks down to 1.1 fantasy points per minute.
The San Antonio Spurs should also aid McLemore's chances of a valuable fantasy night. They rank 11th in the league in pace, 17th in defensive rating, and 18th in opponents per game through 11 games.
David Nwaba, SG/SF, Houston Rockets
DraftKings Salary: $3,200
There's currently no line for this game, likely due to the pending Harden trade, but the season-long metrics point to something in the 220-point territory. The Spurs play a high-tempo, offensive-oriented game, and the Rockets aren't all that different, ranking in the bottom 10 in defensive rating and in the middle of the pack in pace.
This type of game could support two fill-ins for Harden, with David Nwaba another candidate to soak up minutes and usage. He has already averaged 23.1 minutes a game, including four with at least 27 minutes, as well as seven starts in eight games. He possesses just a 16.3% usage rate, however, NBA Wowy tells us that he's upped that to 22.8% in the 21 minutes he's played without Harden and the questionable Eric Gordon.
On a slim night made even slimmer, you will be hard-pressed to find a better value than with the Houston wings. At the end of the day you want to go with one or the other, but a case can be made for both to hold cheap value in this matchup and situation.
Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her 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.
