NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 4/6/21

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Apr 6th, 2021
T.J. McConnell has been consistent as of late and has a soft matchup versus the Bulls tonight. Who are other value players for your lineups?

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-salaried options into your lineup.

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

T.J. McConnell, PG, Indiana Pacers ($5,600)

With a few injuries to monitor for the Indiana Pacers tonight, they could offer a bit of value.

T.J. McConnell has a slightly higher salary than I would normally want to feature in the values piece, but he continues to be productive and has an opportunity to expand on that tonight. Right now, the Pacers have Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis, and Jeremy Lamb listed as questionable for tonight's game against the Chicago Bulls. Depending on who is in or out of the lineup, McConnell could either be in the starting lineup, or in a spot to see increased minutes due to their rotation of players being a bit thinner.

Brogdon has missed the past two games for the Pacers and that led to McConnell -- still coming off the bench -- playing over 30 minutes in each game, posting 26.7 and 37.4 FanDuel points along the way. This shouldn't be a surprise because McConnell produces 1.14 FanDuel points per minute when Brogdon is off the court. That production jumps up to 1.26 FanDuel points per minute when both Brogdon and Sabonis are off the court.

If one or both of them are out tonight, McConnell should be able to do his thing and put up fantasy points, as the Bulls are allowing 47.83 FanDuel points per game to opposing point guards, which is 14th in the league.

Jaxson Hayes, PF, New Orleans Pelicans ($4,800)

The New Orleans Pelicans are dealing with a number of injuries right now, and that opens up plenty of value.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Josh Hart are both out tonight. Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson are questionable tonight. Kira Lewis Jr. is ruled out and Steven Adams is in the league's concussion protocol. Yikes.

There are a ton of moving parts here depending on who is available to play, but looking to Jaxson Hayes can bring a bit of consistency and value to your lineups. Hayes has gotten the start in each of the past two games, one at power forward and one at center.

If Williamson and Adams are out tonight, Hayes should be a lock because he is posting 1.01 FanDuel points per minute when they are off the court this season. The matchup versus the Atlanta Hawks has a 225.5-point over/under and a close 3.0-point spread, making it a very solid fantasy environment.

The defensive matchup is a bit easier if Hayes is at power forward compared to center, but the production per minute Hayes posts when Williamson and Adams are off the court is too good to pass up.

Killian Hayes, PG, Detroit Pistons ($3,500)

Despite being massive 14.0-point underdogs, the Detroit Pistons have some value options tonight.

Rookie Killian Hayes is back from his injury and has played 19 and 25 minutes in these two games, notably posting 38.1 FanDuel points in those 25 minutes last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. While the matchup tonight versus Denver is a tough one -- they allow the sixth-fewest (45.23) FanDuel points per game to point guards -- Hayes is still a viable option due to his salary.

The Detroit Pistons are committed to getting their younger players plenty of playing time, and this could put Hayes in a spot to see 20-plus minutes again tonight while sitting at the minimum salary. Hayes would only need to post 17.5 FanDuel points to reach 5x salary-based value, which is certainly achievable in 25 minutes even with a tough defensive matchup.