NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 4/8/22
Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.
A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down.
A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.
While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.
Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?
Kevin Durant, SF/PF, Brooklyn Nets ($11,700)
Due to rest circumstances as we close the season, there are just not a lot of top-shelf stars to roster -- even on a nine-game slate.
One who will play and play a lot on Friday is Kevin Durant. The Brooklyn Nets are in a position where they need to win every game they can to stay in a position to play in Brooklyn for the play-in tournament next week.
There is a smorgasbord of value on this slate, so Durant's lofty salary isn't really an issue. He's averaged 1.44 FanDuel points per minute in April playing an absurd amount on average (40.0 minutes per game), and that's a role for a talented player that can pay off.
The slate's highest total (232.5) is in Brooklyn, and the Nets are 7.5-point home favorites over Cleveland. Importantly, the Cavs need to win as well to keep their place out of the tournament altogether.
This is the sole environment on Friday where both teams need a win. The game's brightest star is a great building block as a result.
Luka Doncic, PG/SG, Dallas Mavericks ($11,400)
The Mavericks are 17.5-point favorites on Friday. Luka Doncic is still the second-best place to spend salary.
Dallas needs a win as it jockeys Denver and Utah for playoff seeding. They're a solid team facing a Trail Blazers squad that's shut down a half-dozen players and is tanking for their draft position.
Still, the Mavs have a solid 118.5 implied team total because Portland's defense has been wretched. Their defensive rating since March 1st (123.1) is dead-last in the NBA, and the Blazers play at the league's 13th-fastest pace. It's a matchup that is a gold mine for daily fantasy if Portland can keep pace.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pascal Siakam in obvious spots to rest, there really isn't a great place to spend salary until you pick up some of the pieces from Hornets-Bulls in the $9,000 area. With that being the case, three quarters of Doncic against this tire fire should still be a popular landing spot for most at guard.
