Fantasy NBA: DraftKings and FanDuel Value Plays for Feb. 1
When it comes to daily fantasy sports (DFS), and basketball in particular, there's a lot of data out there that can help you make lineup decisions. One source of helpful data is FantasyLabs, an analytical sports resource site that features DFS projections as part of its stock of premium content.
FantasyLabs provides a wealth of data available at the fingertips of the DFS player to help identify top plays, save time in building multiple lineups, and look at where the value is in a given slate of games based on factors ranging from projected ownership to simple projected points per dollar. Players can even tweak the model based on what they weight to be the most important factors, and the FantasyLabs model will spit out a rating for the individual user that ranks players based on his or her preferences. There's also up-to-the-minute news scrolling in a sidebar that makes it easy to follow breaking injury reports.
We're going to provide a sampling for free right here on PokerNews Sports. Each day this recurring article runs, we'll go over three of FantasyLabs' top 10 value plays on both DraftKings and FanDuel using the premium projections. We'll take a look at why these players could represent value and show you what FantasyLabs expects out of them statistically.
All stats are projected totals at the time of writing. Ceiling and floor represent the top 15 percent and bottom 15 percent of a player's projected outcomes, respectively.
FanDuel Value Plays
| Player | Price | Minutes | Proj. Points | Ceiling | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SG Norman Powell (TOR@BOS) | $4,200 | 33 | 27.8 | 38.9 | 12.5 |
DeMar DeRozan came back from injury but went right back on the shelf, so it's Powell time again. He posted an 18-4-3-2-2 line last night and gets a nice, high-paced matchup with the Celtics tonight that has one of the higher totals on the slate at 216.5. While DraftKings has significantly adjust Powell's salary up, he remains quite cheap at barely above the minimum price on FanDuel, so make sure you roll him out over there even though his ownership will likely be fairly high.
| Player | Price | Minutes | Proj. Points | Ceiling | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG Brandon Jennings (NYK@BKN) | $5,600 | 35 | 27.2 | 37.6 | 13 |
Jennings might be the top play on the whole slate if this ownership projection proves accurate. There's a lot to dislike about Jennings' game, from poor shot selection to disinterested defense, but Derrick Rose is again looking like he'll sit, and when that happens, Jennings gets tons of court time in the thing Knicks backcourt. He saw 38 minutes last night in the loss to the Wiz, and the Knicks get the super-premium Nets matchup tonight against a bottom-three defense and the No. 1 team in pace.
| Player | Price | Minutes | Proj. Points | Ceiling | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PF Jonas Jerebko (BOSvsTOR) | $3,500 | 22 | 17 | 28.9 | 6.6 |
If you're looking for a minimum-priced player, look no further than Jerebko. Even with the return of Al Horford, Jerebko has been getting solid minutes lately, 18+ in each of the past five games. He's collected 7+ boards in three of those games, likely a crucial factor in his playing time since Boston is among the worst rebounding teams in the league. At under 10 percent ownership, he's a worthy punt in a high-scoring game against the defensively poor Raptors frontline.
DraftKings Value Plays
| Player | Price | Minutes | Proj. Points | Ceiling | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG Yogi Ferrell (DALvsPHI) | $4,000 | 35 | 23.6 | 23.5 | 5.4 |
Dallas grabbed Ferrell off the scrap heap and has immediately put him to good use. The undrafted rookie posted 26.5 and 38.25 DK points in seeing monster minutes of 36 and 38 in the past two games in relief of the injured Deron Williams. His price has come up some, but not prohibitively so, and Ferrell should be in line for another huge dose of court time tonight against the Sixers, who are without defensive anchor Joel Embiid and therefore very vulnerable.
| Player | Price | Minutes | Proj. Points | Ceiling | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Guillermo Hernangomez (NYK@BKN) | $3,900 | 19 | 21.7 | 32.5 | 8 |
At this point, is there really any justification for Hernangomez playing behind Joakim Noah aside from the amount the players are getting paid? Hernangomez posts far better fantasy numbers when he's on the court, and the team's defensive rating is about 10 points per 100 possessions better with Hernangomez than Noah. He had a monster game last night with 15-14-4, and that might unfortunately push his ownership up a bit.
| Player | Price | Minutes | Proj. Points | Ceiling | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Jonas Valanciunas (TOR@BOS) | $5,400 | 26.8 | 28.5 | 40.3 | 12.6 |
Valanciunas can often get lost in the shuffle in Toronto with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry chucking up massive volumes of shots, but the former is out again tonight, which should open up some more usage for Valanciunas. Boston's defense has slipped this year into the lower tier, and most importantly, they're very poor on the boards. Valanciunas should easily rack up a double-double if he gets more than 25 minutes of court time, and hardly anyone is going to click his name.
Want to see all of today's top plays on DraftKings and FanDuel? Try FantasyLabs' premium tools!
