NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 4/7/21

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.

Jaylen Hoard, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder ($4,000)

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to have a number of injuries, which open up plenty of value options.

Jaylen Hoard was signed by the Thunder the other day and already made his debut on April 5th against the Detroit Pistons, where he played 22 minutes and posted 20.2 FanDuel points. Considering the Thunder are keeping a tight rotation of players, it puts Hoard in a spot to see plenty of minutes and, hopefully, exceed fantasy value due to his $4,000 salary.

While we don't have a large sample size to draw from because Hoard has played only one game, we can see that he produced 0.91 FanDuel points per minute and took 10 field goal attempts off the bench. That is a decent volume of shots for a player who has been with the team for two days. If that volume continues, he should be able to post big numbers, as he is up against the Charlotte Hornets, who are allowing the third-most (43.98) FanDuel points per game to opposing small forwards.

Desmond Bane, SG, Memphis Grizzlies ($4,200)

Given the consistency of Desmond Bane recently, he has to be considered in DFS tonight.

Bane comes in with 21 FanDuel points or more in five straight games and has played 22 minutes or more in four of the five games. He's getting it done in a variety of ways. He isn't always relying on pure scoring in order to reach value, as is shown by his ability to fill up the stat sheet with four rebounds or more in four of these five games. That should come in handy tonight versus the Atlanta Hawks, where the over/under is 224.5 points and has a close 2.5-point spread.

The Hawks are allowing 40.75 FanDuel points per game to opposing shooting guards, which is around the league average and nothing to be worried about. If a back and forth game is what we are going to be seeing tonight, Bane's ability to fill up the stat sheet should come in handy and help him reach fantasy value.

Joe Harris, SF, Brooklyn Nets ($5,000)

Even with Kevin Durant returning to the Nets' lineup, Joe Harris is a viable value option.

Durant has been out for nearly two months but is set to return tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans, where the game total is a slate-high 232.5 points. The return of Durant is very timely for the Nets because James Harden is out with a hamstring injury.

But ultimately, the question is how does this impact Harris' fantasy value? This is a boost, plain and simple. When Durant is off the court, Harris is producing 0.72 FanDuel points per minute. When Harden is off the court, Harris is producing 0.86 FanDuel points per minute.

This is a very clear boost for a player with a specific set of skills, namely, knocking down three-pointers. It just so happens to be an amazing matchup for Harris and his three-point ability, as the Pelicans' defense is allowing 15.1 made three-pointers per game, which is dead last in the league.