5 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Friday 12/16/22

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 one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at some players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on FanDuel tonight, using numberFire's daily fantasy basketball projections as a guide.

Onyeka Okongwu, C, Atlanta Hawks

FanDuel Salary: $5,200

The Atlanta Hawks are depleted and list Clint Capela, John Collins, and Dejounte Murray as out.

As a result, the top value projection of the night belongs to Onyeka Okongwu, who is expected to play 32.2 minutes and score 34.3 FanDuel points. That works out to 6.59 FanDuel points per $1,000.

The projected line for Okongwu is 13.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.7 combined steals and blocks.

With the three aforementioned Hawks off the floor, Okongwu has a solid 17.8% usage rate across 185.7 minutes, and he averages 1.15 FanDuel points per minute in that split, according to CourtIQ.

Kyle Anderson, SF/PF, Minnesota Timberwolves

FanDuel Salary: $5,500

The Minnesota Timberwolves are also thin -- and could be thinner.

We know that Karl-Anthony Towns is out, but the team also lists Rudy Gobert and D'Angelo Russell as questionable.

Either way, Kyle Anderson is freed up for extra minutes and usage.

Anderson holds a projection of 34.0 minutes and 34.0 FanDuel points. Even I don't need a calculator for that projected per-minute rate.

In eight starts this season, Anderson has averaged 31.4 minutes and 28.7 FanDuel points.

Luguentz Dort, SF/SG, Oklahoma City Thunder

FanDuel Salary: $5,300

On the other side of that game, we have a value option in Luguentz Dort.

The Timberwolves are just average in defensive rating (they're also bottom-10 in defense-versus-position against wing players), and in games against teams outside the top 10 in defense, Dort averages a solid 0.89 FanDuel points per minute and 27.4 FanDuel points per game over 30.8 minutes.

Dort's projection of 27.7 FanDuel points over 32.0 minutes is right on par with that type of line, and that's good for a value rating of 5.22.

Bruce Brown Jr., SG, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Salary: $5,400

In a game with a 236.0-point total and a tight 1.5-point spread, we get Bruce Brown Jr. and the Denver Nuggets against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Overall, it's one of the best possible game environments for any player across any position, according to our composite matchup tool. That has to draw our attention.

Brown has a projected output of 27.7 FanDuel points over 30.6 minutes, good for a value rating of 5.13.

Brown has seen his minutes scale back with Denver getting healthier but is still averaging 28.3 minutes per game over his past four after that decline started.

Jaden McDaniels, SF/PF, Minnesota Timberwolves

FanDuel Salary: $4,600

Let's go back to the Timberwolves.

Jaden McDaniels is a bit more contingent on the Russell and Gobert injuries than Anderson is but could be a great play without them and still works even with our current projections accounting for Russell and Gobert playing.

His projection with both expected to play is 24.5 FanDuel points (5.33 per $1,000).

McDaniels has started six consecutive games, and in his starts, he is averaging 29.9 minutes and 21.9 FanDuel points.

Against the Thunder, who are just an average defense, McDaniels should see an efficiency boost. His FanDuel-point-per-minute rate bumps up to 0.87 against mid-tier defenses but is 0.77 against top-10 units.