After a slow start to the week, if you rolled with our value plays and lineup last night, there’s a good chance you’re at least a few bucks richer today. Of our value plays, seven of our eight managed to meet value. Our lineup combined for 312 FanDuel points and won the 10-person and 5-person tournaments I entered it in by a good 14 points, and would have likely won a few others.
| Player | Cost | FPS Needed to Make Value |
Actual FPS |
| Ramon Sessions | 4,200 | 21 | 23.4 |
| D.J. Augustin | 5,600 | 28 | 41.5 |
| Kyle Korver | 5,000 | 25 | 32.5 |
| Rodney Stuckey | 4,100 | 20.5 | 23.9 |
| DeMarre Carroll | 5,000 | 25 | 30.6 |
| Patrick Patterson | 4,300 | 21.5 | 11.5 |
| Josh McRoberts | 5,200 | 26 | 30.1 |
| Tyson Chandler | 5,000 | 25 | 33.3 |
Everyone but Patrick Patterson met their value while Augustin blew right past his to more than make up for Patterson. Having so many low-cost value plays allowed us to spend some money on can’t-miss players like Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and DeMar DeRozan.
| Player | Cost |
FPS |
| Ramon Sessions | 4,200 | 23.4 |
| D.J. Augustin | 5,600 | 41.5 |
| DeMar DeRozan | 8,100 | 48.1 |
| Kyle Korver | 5,000 | 32.5 |
| Kevin Durant | 12,100 | 44.9 |
| DeMarre Carroll | 5,000 | 30.6 |
| Patrick Patterson | 4,300 | 11.5 |
| Carmelo Anthony | 9,800 | 46.3 |
| Tyson Chandler | 5,000 | 33.3 |
| Total: | 59100 | 312.1 |
Even with Patrick Patterson putting up a dud and Kevin Durant turning the ball over a ton, and the fact the I left $900 of my salary on the table because there wasn’t a single roster spot I wanted to change, we had a lot of hits and just about everyone made good on what we paid for them and thensome.
Today, we only have two games so it’s impossible to make a lineup and all of the FanDuel tournaments include both today and tomorrow’s early games. That’s nine games total so let’s take a look at today’s top value plays and optimized lineup.
In FanDuel daily fantasy basketball, you get $60K to build a nine player team. Ideally, you want to score 300+ to put out a solid lineup and 325+ to have a solid chance at a larger tournament. That means we need to get at least 5X value on each player. If Player A costs $10,000, we’d need a 50 FPS night to justify that salary.
FanDuel scoring: Point = 1pt, Rebound = 1.2pts, Assist = 1.5pts, Block = 2pts, Steal = 2pts, Turnover = -1pt
Point Guard:
Ramon Sessions vs NYK ($5,200): Nick Raducanu wrote a good piece about Sessions’ DFS value yesterday. Sessions’ price tag went up after it was just $4,200 yesterday so he isn’t the screaming value he was a mere day ago but he’s starting in place of Kemba Walker, playing a 35+ minutes, and is averaging 24.3 FPS per game over his three starts in place of Walker. He’d need 26 FPS to make value today and if he doesn’t, he’ll come very close.
Greivis Vasquez vs PHI ($4,200): With Kyle Lowry struggling, Vasquez is getting a minutes bump and played 34 minutes on Wednesday against the Mavs. He’s also put up at least 34 FPS in back-to-back games and will face the shoddy Philly defense today. At $4,200, you can’t afford to not take a chance on Vasquez.
Shooting Guard:
Rodney Stuckey vs NO ($4,100): This is an incredibly low price tag for a guy who has eclipsed the 20.5 FPS he’d need to make value in four straight games. He’s healthy and playing 30+ minutes per game and has scored at least 20 points in four straight. Against a New Orleans defense that is giving up the tenth most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards over the last two weeks, he’s a no brainer.
Joe Johnson vs DAL ($6,500): Johnson didn’t have a great game against Orlando on Tuesday but came into that game averaging 36.7 FPS per game over his previous six. Dallas gives up the eighth most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards over the last two weeks so I like Johnson’s chances to bounce back, even with a fairly high price tag.
Small Forward:
Ryan Kelly vs MIA ($4,300): Kelly is playing power forward but is listed at small forward, which is good because I don’t love most of the matchups at this position for any of the low-priced guys. Kelly has now played at least 30 minutes in four straight games and is averaging 25.7 FPS per game over that stretch. He’ll need just 21.5 FPS to make value, a number he’s eclipsed in every start so far.
Power Forward:
Tristan Thompson vs MIL ($6,100): Thompson needs 30.5 FPS to make value today, a number he’s surpassed three times in his last five games, and came fairly close in the other two so the risk is very low. Against a Milwaukee defense giving up the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards over the last two weeks, I like Thompson’s chances to hit 30+ again.
Andray Blatche vs DAL ($5,600): Blatche has been on fire of late so you can’t get him too cheap anymore but he’d need 28 fantasy points to make value today, a number he’s more than surpassed in three straight games without playing 30 minutes in one of them. Dallas gives up the second-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards and I like Blatche’s chances to keep rolling.
Center:
Tyson Chandler vs CHA ($4,800): If we take away the disaster against the Nets on Monday, Chandler is averaging 31.3 FPS in his previous three games and needs just 24 FPS to make value. This is a screaming value, especially against a Charlotte defense giving up the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing centers over the last two weeks.
Optimized Lineup:
PG- Greivis Vasquez vs PHI ($4,200)
PG- Ramon Sessions vs NYK ($5,200)
SG- DeMar DeRozan vs PHI ($8,400)
SG- Joe Johnson vs DAL ($6,500)
SF- Kevin Durant vs BOS ($12,000)
SF- Luol Deng vs MIL ($7,200)
PF- Andray Blatche vs DAL ($5,600)
PF- Tristan Thompson vs MIL ($6,100)
C- Tyson Chandler vs CHA ($4,800)
Good luck!
