NBA

5 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Friday 1/20/23

Brandon Gdula  —  @gdula13 Jan 20th, 2023

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.

Isaiah Hartenstein, PF/C, New York Knicks
Jericho Sims, C, New York Knicks

Hartenstein FanDuel Salary: $4,000
Sims FanDuel Salary: $3,600

With Mitchell Robinson out, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jericho Sims both project pretty well and -- as importantly -- open up near-maximum cap space to let us get access to the superstars on the slate.

In eight games without Robinson but with both Hartenstein and Sims active, Hartenstein has averaged 23.8 minutes and 18.6 FanDuel points. That's only 0.78 per minute. However, he's a 0.89-fantasy-point-per-minute producer for the full year and thus should see that bump up soon enough.

As for Sims, his splits here are 18.7 minutes and 20.1 FanDuel points (1.07 per minute). On the full season, he's at 0.90 per minute.

The New York Knicks are up against the Atlanta Hawks, who rank 29th in rebounds per game allowed to opponents (46.7, less than a single board shy of the league high).

Both Hartenstein and Sims can get close to a FanDuel point per minute and open up a lot for us tonight. Hartenstein is numberFire's top projected value play of the night.

Bennedict Mathurin, SG/SF, Indiana Pacers

FanDuel Salary: $5,300

Bennedict Mathurin is fresh off of a 22.5-minute game and didn't play in the fourth quarter of a game that wound up as a 20-point loss for the Indiana Pacers. Yikes.

But, he's projected for 30.2 minutes tonight in a correction while Tyrese Haliburton remains out. Mathurin has a 29.6% usage rate and averages 0.93 FanDuel points per minute over a hefty 686.2-minute sample without Haliburton on the floor.

There's blowout risk again, as the Pacers are 11.0-point underdogs to the Denver Nuggets, yet it's hard to dislike the splits for Mathurin if he plays close to his projected minutes rate.

Trey Murphy III, SF, New Orleans Pelicans

FanDuel Salary: $5,200

One or both of Trey Murphy III and Naji Marshall ($6,000) will be sources of value tonight. Marshall, though, is questionable, so I'll just focus on Murphy III here.

Even with Marshall projected, Murphy III is expected to play 32.3 minutes and earn 26.6 FanDuel points against the Orlando Magic, a team that's 21st in defensive rating. This game also has a tight 1.0-point spread.

Murphy III, in 18 games with at least 30 minutes this season, has averaged a line of 11.2 shots, 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.8 combined steals and blocks for an average of 28.2 FanDuel points.

Both Murphy III and Marshall are projected for at least 5.00 FanDuel points per $1,000 in salary tonight.

Dennis Schroder, SG/PG, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Salary: $4,900

The Los Angeles Lakers are listing LeBron James as questionable (in addition to having Anthony Davis as out). James is still logging heavy minutes, so we'll see if he actually sits.

Either way, the models are liking Dennis Schroder tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies.

In 28 starts this season, Schroder has averaged 30.7 minutes and 21.5 FanDuel points and is projected for 35.3 minutes and 29.5 FanDuel points tonight in a game with a slate-high 242.5-point over/under.