FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 11/14/22

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, basketball daily fantasy would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

Well, as a result, NBA daily fantasy is extremely reliant on a player's 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, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

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.

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

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

For a seven-game slate, Monday is loaded with injury report rumblings and traffic.

The headliner is Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks' franchise player is probable with a knee injury, but he's been scratched from that status before. Jrue Holiday (ankle) will be out again, but curiously, Khris Middleton (wrist) is unknown as of Monday morning.

Fred VanVleet (illness) and Gary Trent Jr. (ankle) won't suit up for Toronto tonight. The Raps are already without Pascal Siakam (groin). Of course, the home Pistons also remain without Cade Cunningham (shin) in that one.

The Suns have Chris Paul (heel) listed as questionable. He'd squash the Phoenix backcourt more than anything. Tyler Herro (ankle) is questionable for the opposing Miami Heat.

LaMelo Ball returned for Charlotte over the weekend, but his backup Dennis Smith (ankle) is now doubtful to play Monday. Gordon Hayward (shoulder) remains out. The opposing Magic have Paolo Banchero (ankle) listed as questionable to miss his third straight game.

Malcolm Brogdon (ankle) won't play for the Celtics tonight. They're hosting Oklahoma City, who might be without Tre Mann (back) and Darius Bazley (ankle).

Houston might be without Jalen Green (shoulder). They're hosting the Clippers, and L.A. will choose to rest John Wall on the front end of the back-to-back tonight.

Of last note, watch the Warriors for any resting players this afternoon as they host the lowly Spurs in San Francisco.

Guards

The top of guard isn't stellar, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,000) is a high-floor option.

SGA's massive chunk of OKC's scoring hierarchy (32.0% usage) has allowed him to post over 30 real-life points in six of his last eight games. Moreover, he's kept it rolling with Josh Giddey ($6,700) back in the fold, and both are solid options on Monday against a Boston team allowing the sixth-most FanDuel points to combo guards.

Once again, I'd prefer Trae Young ($9,700) to Dejounte Murray ($10,100) at salary, but Young hasn't eclipsed 45 FanDuel points since returning. The answer feels like neither, but the 225.5-point total between Atlanta and Milwaukee is one to get a piece of.

I love LaMelo Ball ($8,400) up here as his role will continue to grow. He returned to just 28 minutes, but without Hayward or Miles Bridges on the floor last year, Ball averaged 46.3 FanDuel points per 36 minutes. He's my core point guard option today.

There are two key value plugs here today. Reggie Jackson ($4,700) will have a full night's work with no Wall for the Clippers, and Malachi Flynn ($3,800) should start and have a gigantic role with Gary Trent sitting for the Raptors tonight.

Beyond those two, the always-solid Tre Jones ($6,000) stands out as the best of the rest in our projections, followed by Jalen Suggs ($5,900) and Derrick White ($4,800). I'll take the over on White's 25 minutes played on Saturday with Brogdon still out on Monday.

Wings

If Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,300) ends up playing, he's wildly undersalaried given a 1.86 FanDuel-point-per-minute average with Jrue off the court.

Giannis is joined by Paul George ($9,300) in a really strong upper tier of wings today. George's production is up-and-down, but his 32.2% usage rate with Wall off the floor could be primed for a big night. He's taking on Houston again, averaging 58.6 FanDuel points per game against them in two games thus far.

Scottie Barnes ($7,500) should have a mammoth night as Toronto's primary ballhandler with Siakam, VanVleet, and Trent all sitting. Barnes only has a 15.3% usage rate in a tiny, 32-minute stretch without any of the trio this year, so maybe his popularity will be down due to the small sample.

If you're assuming the nightcap -- which has a total that crushes all challengers -- stays close, both Andrew Wiggins ($7,200) and Keldon Johnson ($7,100) have outpaced their salaries this season in full roles. I prefer Johnson -- and his team-best 28.0% usage rate -- of the two.

I keep waiting for a massive Saddiq Bey ($5,600) scoring effort in Cade's stead. Remember, he dropped 51 points in a game last year. He's well-projected with Cade out tonight, heading a solid group of value wings that includes Marcus Morris ($5,500), Otto Porter ($4,800), and Torrey Craig ($4,400).

Bigs

Toronto has gone to a larger lineup missing their key pieces, which has thrust both Chris Boucher ($5,900) and Thaddeus Young ($5,100) into full-time roles. They're the key pieces up here today.

That's also because there's just no star to headline the top. Bam Adebayo ($8,000) is the highest-salaried active center tonight, and he's viable in an average matchup with the Suns. He's posted over 38 FanDuel points in six of his last eight.

The Magic have a couple of options up here. Wendell Carter Jr. ($6,500) is the safer bet with at least 32 minutes in Orlando's last six competitive games, but Bol Bol ($5,700) may also be a high-upside dart given he got 30 minutes due to Banchero's absence on Friday.

Ivica Zubac ($6,700) and Alperen Sengun ($6,500) are also key choices in matchups against each other they've got a recent history of dominating. On October 31st, Zubac dropped 42.3 FanDuel points on Houston, and two days later, Sengun returned the favor with 47.6 FanDuel points in his building. At home, maybe it'll be Sengun's night once more.

Once again, there is no shortage of value power forward options to plug into this slate. In addition to Boucher and Young, John Collins ($5,900), Draymond Green ($5,700), and Al Horford ($5,100) are well-projected in their full-time roles.