NBA

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Sunday 11/28/21

The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, and we also have player news updates.

We'll be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Guards

De'Aaron Fox, PG, (FanDuel Salary: $7,600) - The Sacramento Kings-Memphis Grizzlies game profiles as the best fantasy environment of this four-game slate. It carries a slate-best 222.5-point total with a 2.5-point spread in favor of Memphis. Fox -- who owns a team-leading 27.7% usage rate over the last five games -- is a high-upside way to get exposure to it. He's coming off a huge 52.4-point outburst last time out in a triple-overtime game. Memphis is dead last in defensive efficiency and plays at the eighth-fastest pace. They're giving up the sixth-most FanDuel points per game to point guards (49.6). This is a really great spot for Fox, who we project for 39.9 FanDuel points (5.26 per $1,000).

Dillon Brooks, SG/SF, $5,800 - On the Grizzlies' side, they'll be without Ja Morant (knee). With Morant off the floor this year, Brooks spearheads Memphis in usage with a 36.6% clip, per RotoGrinders' CourtIQ. That alone makes him super appealing, and the game environment doesn't hurt, either, as the Kings are second in pace and fifth-worst in defensive efficiency. Our model projects Brooks for 30.3 FanDuel points (5.23 per $1,000).

Tyus Jones, PG, $3,800 - Sticking with Memphis, Jones is expected to start in Morant's place, and he'll be a chalky value play tonight. With Morant exiting early last game, Jones logged 20 minutes and generated 15.0 FanDuel points. We project him for a whopping 29.9 FanDuel points, which amounts to 7.87 per $1,000. He's the slate's top point-per-dollar pick, according to our numbers.

Others to Consider: Russell Westbrook ($9,600), Caris LeVert ($5,600), De'Anthony Melton ($4,500)

Wings

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF/PF, $11,500 - For me, this is a slate where you lock in Giannis and go from there. Our algorithm projects him for 52.4 FanDuel points -- 8.0 more than anyone else. He's taking on the Indiana Pacers, a team he nuked for 62.5 FanDuel points earlier this year. He's produced at least 59.9 FanDuel points in four of his last six games. His floor/ceiling combination is unmatched on this slate. The spread is only 1.5 points, so there's not much blowout risk.

Domantas Sabonis, PF/C, $8,300 - Sabonis has been a solid DFS play lately, scoring between 39.4 and 45.0 FanDuel points in four straight games. He's seen 34 and 36 minutes in the last two. Among the five forward-eligible players who are salaried at $8,000 or above, Sabonis is the best point-per-dollar play, per our projections, as we forecast him for 39.3 FanDuel points.

Others to Consider: LeBron James ($10,000), Jayson Tatum ($9,700), Saddiq Bey ($5,400)

Bigs

Jaren Jackson Jr., PF/C, $6,800 - Jackson gets a big boost without Morant. He's got a 33.8% usage rate with Morant off the court this season, which is the second-highest mark on the team in the split and an increase of 9.2 percentage points from his season-long usage rate. Our algorithm has Jackson scoring 34.1 FanDuel points (5.01 per $1,000), and he's a nice play on a slate that's not super strong at center.

Alex Len, PF/C, $4,300 - The Kings are likely to be without both Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes. That creates a few value plays in Sacramento's frontcourt, and Len is one of them. He played 36 minutes in the Kings' last game and finished with 23.6 FanDuel points. We project a similar output tonight, pegging Len to score 23.3 FanDuel points and rating him as the best point-per-dollar play among centers.

Others to Consider: Anthony Davis ($10,300), Chimezie Metu ($4,100), Marvin Bagley III ($4,000)