NBA

NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Tuesday 5/18/21

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 May 18th, 2021
Tristan Thompson is primed for production against a weak Wizards defense. Who else should you add to your lineups tonight?

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.

Tristan Thompson, C, Boston Celtics ($4,400)

With only two games on tonight's slate, we are searching for viable value options.

It's clear that paying up for Russell Westbrook ($13,000) is going to be a popular option tonight but, oh boy, is he expensive and takes up a late portion of your total salary. Combine that with the fact there are limited value options, and it should make a few players very popular because they fit well into the standard roster construction.

One such player should be Tristan Thompson, who is primed to be a highly rostered option at center tonight. It should be noted that the Celtics' other center, Robert Williams, is listed as probable for tonight's game. However, even if Williams does play, we know that he generally doesn't play more than 25 minutes per game, leaving plenty of time for Thompson.

When Williams is off the court, Thompson is producing 0.91 FanDuel points per minute on a 15.5% usage rate. That should come in handy against the Washington Wizards, who are allowing the most (57.86) FanDuel points per game to opposing centers. All of this should put Thompson in a good spot to produce fantasy points tonight.

Rui Hachimura, SF, Washington Wizards ($5,100)

This Wizards versus Celtics matchup has a 233.5 over/under and a close 2.5-point spread, giving us a solid matchup to attack.

It's no secret that the Celtics struggled down the stretch of the regular season and are a team that can leak fantasy points to all positions. If their defense is going to be focused on guarding Westbrook and Bradley Beal, there should be plenty of opportunities for Rui Hachimura to add in some easy fantasy points. Over the last five games of the regular season, Hachimura played 27 minutes or more in all five games, adding in 22 FanDuel points or more in four of those five games. He scored double-digit real points in each of those games, along with 11 field goal attempts or more in each outing.

There is clear scoring upside for Hachimura in the Wizards' offense and that can allow him to exceed value quickly at a very modest salary.