5 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Wednesday 1/4/23

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.

Naji Marshall, SF, New Orleans Pelicans
Trey Murphy III, SF, New Orleans Pelicans

Marshall FanDuel Salary: $4,900
Murphy III FanDuel Salary: $4,900

The New Orleans Pelicans are a go-to source for value on tonight's huge slate.

They'll be without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Larry Nance Jr., so both Naji Marshall and Trey Murphy III are projected for 31.9-plus minutes.

Marshall rates out a tick better in terms of projected value, but they're both very viable. The only unfortunate part is that they're both small-forward-only options. We can forgive that for the opportunity, though.

Without Williamson, Ingram, and Nance on the floor, Marshall has a 19.7% usage rate and averages 0.84 FanDuel points per minute. Murphy III's rates are a bit weaker at 15.1% and 0.75, respectively.

In games without Zion and Ingram this year, Marshall puts up 27.0 FanDuel points over 31.2 minutes and Murphy III racks up 29.5 fantasy points over 34.1 minutes on average.

Jabari Smith, PF, Houston Rockets

FanDuel Salary: $5,000

On the other side of that game, Jabari Smith projects as another value play.

Smith's minutes spiked to 32.4 in his most recent game after playing just 19.6 the game prior (when he had three fouls in the first quarter).

His salary dropped from $6,000 to $5,000 after the sub-20-minute game, and it's still down.

Smith is projected for 31.1 minutes tonight. In games with at least 30 minutes played, Smith has averaged 28.8 FanDuel points over 22 such contests.

Pat Connaughton, SF/SG, Milwaukee Bucks

FanDuel Salary: $3,900

The Milwaukee Bucks will be without Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, George Hill, and Joe Ingles.

On possessions without them, Pat Connaughton has a 15.3% usage rate and a per-minute average of 0.77 FanDuel points. Those numbers won't blow you away -- at all.

But the salary goes a long way tonight when we're trying to roster the true superstars.

In five starts this season, Connaughton has averaged 26.8 minutes (and a respectable-at-this-salary 16.8 FanDuel points).

Kevon Looney, C/PF, Golden State Warriors

FanDuel Salary: $5,400

Kevon Looney and the Golden State Warriors host the Detroit Pistons tonight in a game in which the Warriors are favored by 6.5. That should lead to scoring opportunities for everyone -- including Looney.

Detroit allows 54.1 points per game in the paint, the fourth-most in the league. They also allow the seventh-most rebounds per game.

That culminates in one of the best position-based matchups for any player on the board tonight.

numberFire projects Looney for 26.1 minutes, 8.7 points, 9.1 boards, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 combined steals and blocks for a value rating north of 5.00.