NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Friday 4/23/21

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.

Brandon Goodwin, PG, Atlanta Hawks ($5,000)

With Trae Young out of the lineup for the Atlanta Hawks, Brandon Goodwin should be their new starting point guard.

The Hawks are going to be without their star point guard for a few games, and that means it's value time for Goodwin. On April 11th and April 13th, Goodwin was in the starting lineup in place of an injured Young and showed us the fantasy value he can bring to your lineups. He went for 37 minutes and 33 FanDuel points in the first start, with 37 minutes and 30.5 FanDuel points in the second game. While that is fewer than one FanDuel point per minute, Goodwin still exceeded his salary-based expectations. That is ultimately what we are looking for from a value player -- do just enough to reach value.

When Young is off the court this season, Goodwin is producing 0.76 FanDuel points per minute on a 20.2% offensive usage rate. With Goodwin expected to play more than 30 minutes tonight, he is in a spot to be one of the slate's best value picks.

Aaron Gordon, PF, Denver Nuggets ($5,100)

The Denver Nuggets have a soft matchup tonight versus the Golden State Warriors, and Denver presents some value.

Aaron Gordon has taken a small step backward with his production recently but is in a spot to get back on track. The Warriors are allowing the 11th-most (44.50) FanDuel points per game to power forwards. The overall game environment should help, too, since we have a 228.0-point over/under along with a close 2.0-point spread. On top of that, this is a massive pace-up spot for the Nuggets (26th) since the Warriors are the second-fastest team in the league.

These factors help give Gordon a projection of 31.43 minutes and 30.2 FanDuel points, making him the fourth-best point-per-dollar value option on the entire slate and the top value option among power forwards. We know Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. are the drivers of the Nuggets' offense, but Gordon has a favorable matchup to exploit.

Aleksej Pokusevski, PF, Oklahoma City Thunder ($4,800)

We like lots of scoring and no defense in NBA DFS, and that is what we should have with the Washington Wizards at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Both teams are in the bottom five of the league for the most FanDuel points allowed per game to all positions combined. We also see both teams in the top 10 of the league when it comes to pace. This is why we get an over/under sitting at 230.0 points, which is the second-highest on the slate. This should be one of the better fantasy environments on the slate and a spot where we can find plenty of value options.

Aleksej Pokusevski continues to play a high volume of minutes for the Thunder, and that is leading to plenty of fantasy points. Don't worry about his most recent game. In that one, he played only five minutes, leaving early due to an illness, but he is not on today's injury report.

Given the strong game environment, Poku is projected for 27.91 minutes and 25.7 FanDuel points, making him the seventh-best value option on the slate.