NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 1/6/16

If you've never played daily fantasy basketball before, it's time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you're able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every NBA night.

Today's lineups can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the night completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until tip-off, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.

Oh, and if you're interested, check out our daily fantasy basketball heat chart for today's slate. It's full of information like tonight's Vegas lines, team offensive and defensive efficiency ratings, pace, fantasy points against and so much more.

As for today's picks -- let's get to it.

The Best of the Best

Anthony Davis (FD: $10,200, DK: 10,300) - Davis draws a matchup against a Mavericks team that's coming off of a double-overtime game last night, and one that has allowed the fifth most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards on the year. He should have his way with the aging Dirk Nowitzki en route to a monster fantasy outing tonight.

Russell Westbrook (FD: $10,700, DK: 11,600) - If Kevin Durant is unable to play tonight, Westbrook would become the best play on tonight's slate by far, but he still makes a strong play regardless. The Thunder star ranks second in the league in Usage Rate (33.8%) and currently sits fourth in our player power rankings with an impressive 17.5 nERD, even with Durant healthy for the majority of the season.

Kyle Lowry (FD: $8,900, DK: 8,300) - Lowry has put together a career year so far this season, posting career-highs in scoring (20.7 points per game), rebounds (4.8 per game), steals (2.2 per game) and Usage Rate (26.7%) while adding 6.5 assists per game as well. The Raptors' floor general should have little trouble reaching value tonight against the undersized Shane Larkin and a Nets' backcourt that has allowed the fourth most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards.

Top Mid-Range Values

Brandon Knight (FD: $6,700, DK: 7,400) - Although he has yet to have a true breakout game since Eric Bledsoe was lost for the season, a fast-paced, high-scoring game against the Hornets could provide Knight with his breakout opportunity. Knight's price tag is still very reasonable for his projected workload, and he should exceed value easily until his price corrects.

Evan Turner (FD: $5,700, DK: 5,600) - Turner recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double in 37 as Boston's starting shooting guard on Monday, and will get another shot to start tonight with Avery Bradley unavailable once again. The veteran guard should see another monster workload for the short-handed Celtics' and costs less than $6,000 on both FanDuel and DraftKings.

Victor Oladipo (FD: $5,700, DK: 5,800) - With Elfrid Payton sidelined Monday night, Oladipo made the most of his opportunity in the starting lineup with an impressive 18-point, 7-rebound, 5-assist performance in 35 minutes of action. Coach Scott Skiles has already said Oladipo will stick in the starting lineup whether or not Payton suits up tonight, making him dollar for dollar one of the best value's on the board at his price point.

Basement Ballers

Jeff Withey (FD: $4,700, DK: 4,600) - In seven starts this season, Withey has averaged 9.1 points and 7.9 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game. He's topped 32 minutes in each of his last three outings and will likely see all the minutes he can handle as long as Derrick Favors remains sidelined.

Norris Cole (FD: $4,400, DK: 4,500) - Cole has seen his minutes trending upwards over the past two weeks, culminating with a season-high 38 minutes on Saturday. With Tyreke Evans questionable to suit up tonight, the Pelicans' backup point guard could be in store for another heavy dose of playing time and should have no problem taking advantage of a strong matchup against J.J. Barea and the Mavericks.

Patrick Mills (FD: $3,800, DK: 4,100) - Tony Parker has already been ruled out tonight, giving Mills another opportunity to start. He's averaging 14.5 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals on a per-36 minute basis, and should see close to that amount of action tonight against one of the worst defensive teams in basketball in the Pelicans.