FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 1/30/23

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, daily fantasy basketball 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?

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure 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. 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 come at you with this primer daily, 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

The league's got plenty for us on today's injury report.

The most notable and certain situation at this stage involves the Los Angeles Lakers. They've already ruled out LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (foot) for maintenance after a grueling Saturday in Boston. Ben Simmons (knee) and T.J. Warren (shin) are questionable for the Nets on the other side.

Hosting the Pistons at home, I'm not sure we'll see Luka Doncic (ankle) return for the Mavericks on Monday, but he's officially questionable. Cory Joseph (back) will sit for Detroit.

"Forever questionable" is the new trend in NBA injury reporting, and Joel Embiid might be the latest contributor to it. He's played eight of the last nine through his foot issue but is officially questionable against Orlando.

Speaking of forever questionable, the Timberwolves have had Rudy Gobert (groin) listed as questionable in four straight, but he's played all of them. We're also waiting to see if they'll have Taurean Prince (ankle).

Trae Young (ankle) has been battling soreness all season, and he's questionable again Monday in Portland. The Blazers are unsure if they'll have Jusuf Nurkic (calf) or Josh Hart (hamstring) for their tilt with Atlanta.

In a situation growing increasingly odd by the day, OG Anunoby (wrist) will miss another game for the Raptors tonight in Phoenix.

The Thunder, hosting Golden State, will be down Luguentz Dort (hamstring) once again.

Finally, the Spurs have Romeo Langford (hip) listed as questionable entering the game Monday versus Washington.

Guards

Even with Luka Doncic ($12,000) up in the air, Dallas is an 8.5-point favorite. I don't see the appeal -- at his usual lofty salary -- to get there even if he comes back today, but Luka is Luka.

If Doncic sits, I won't rush to Spencer Dinwiddie ($8,400), either. There is plenty to like; he's eclipsed 40 minutes with a Luka-like 33.2% usage rate since Doncic left. However, his 51.7% shooting in this span trumps his season-long average (46.4%) considerably. At immense popularity, I could see a frigid night.

The highest total of the day is in OKC, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,500) has a cushy role at present. He's held a 32.0% usage rate in the past four games, eclipsing 34 real-life points in all of them. This has coincided with Josh Giddey playing fewer minutes. Stephen Curry ($9,800) will be on-site for this one, too.

Our projections don't really pick up at guard until the low $8,000 range. Chris Paul ($8,300) might still be a touch undervalued given he's posted 42.1 FanDuel points per 36 with Devin Booker off the floor. and it's easy to like Dejounte Murray ($8,300) with or without Trae Young from the 236.5-point total in Portland.

Russell Westbrook ($7,800) averages 46.8 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with LeBron and A.D. off the floor, so fading him would be at the angle of an early blowout. Patrick Beverley ($4,600) is likely safe for a modest night even in blowout conditions.

This is a really solid position for value options today. Seth Curry ($5,200) should see a bump with Brooklyn's potential absences, and De'Anthony Melton ($5,500), Alec Burks ($5,000), Josh Green ($4,500), and Aaron Wiggins ($4,200) are starting and hold 30-plus minutes roles at the moment.

Wings

With the injuries to LeBron and Kevin Durant, this positional group starts at $9,300. It's not star-studded today.

Anthony Edwards ($9,300) is certainly a worthy top choice, though. He toasted the poor Sacramento defense (114.7 rating) for 34 real-life points on Saturday in this exact matchup, and the 237.5-point total welcomes stacks of the rematch. That could also welcome De'Aaron Fox ($8,500) and D'Angelo Russell ($7,200) in the backcourt, but guard has competing priorities today.

With Kristaps Porzingis ($8,900) back, I'll pass on Kyle Kuzma at his salary for the Wizards. He's projecting well in a friendly San Antonio matchup but averages just 37.7 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with Washington at full health.

Consider me stumped on the Scottie Barnes ($8,100) salary today. It's too low. He's eclipsed 40 FanDuel points in 8 of his past 10 games, and the team is now without Anunoby. Toronto's net rating does drop from +1.5 to -1.0 without OG, but that's not enough to jeopardize the competitiveness of their battle with the Suns. Gary Trent Jr. ($6,800) is in a similar boat here.

Andrew Wiggins ($6,600) is off the injury report for Golden State, and he'll likely rejoin the lineup in a modest role. Averaging 36.1 FanDuel points per 36, his salary has slid considerably while he was on the shelf.

I'll likely pepper this section with Mavericks if Doncic misses again. Tim Hardaway Jr. ($5,300) and Dorian Finney-Smith ($5,300) could see an increase in shots if Dinwiddie isn't scorching from the field, and they're already projected well even with Luka in the mix.

Others topping the projections include Kyle Anderson ($6,500), Harrison Barnes ($6,000), Royce O'Neale ($5,400), and Kenrich Williams ($5,000).

Bigs

This is my favorite spot to spend most days, and today is no exception.

We've got a friendly salary on Domantas Sabonis ($9,600) in one of the games of the day. His dud Saturday (39.5 FanDuel points) had more to do with no blocks or steals than the 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 dimes he dropped. I'm a fan of this decreasing mark.

Pascal Siakam ($9,500) also hasn't panned out yet with Anunoby on the shelf, but with a usage rate increase (0.7 percentage points), he should see better days. A lot of it has to do with the frigid 17-for-42 shooting (40.5%) in the pair of contests. On the other side of him, Deandre Ayton ($7,800) averages 41.4 FanDuel points per 36 with Booker off the floor.

As mentioned, Porzingis returns for the Wizards today. K.P. averages a team-best 45.4 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, but he may not be in line for a full role returning. While he squashes Kuzma, Bradley Beal ($8,000) might still be an option here, and someone likely will chow against the Spurs' league-worst defensive rating (120.1).

The "sticker shock" is very real with Nicolas Claxton ($8,400), but after posting over 45 FanDuel points in six of his past seven, he's earned it. Los Angeles also allows the fourth-most FanDuel points per centers.

The Lakers' injuries put Thomas Bryant ($5,800) and Wenyen Gabriel ($4,200) back on the menu despite both seeing roles decline since Davis' return. They're the primary sources of value here, but Jerami Grant ($6,700) and John Collins ($6,000) are also both projecting well in Portland.

Dwight Powell ($5,000) is a bit less stable following just 22 minutes in the Mavs' last contest, and we know they've benched the unskilled leaper at times in the past.