This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
Point Guard:
T.J. McConnell, PHI @ MIN ($5,000): McConnell has been in a few of my articles now and he just continues to be a great value pick week after week. FanDuel just seems slow to adjust to him because he's a point guard on a crappy team. Philadelphia is often overlooked for DFS purposes because they are so bad, but that makes for a great way to get some value. What makes me so intrigued with McConnell is his ability to stuff the stat sheet, while not having to rely on his jumper. McConnell averages 7.1 points, 6.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals a game. That's just about 25 fantasy points a game and that makes McConnell a major steal. Like I've said in past articles, 5X value is the goal of any value pick and that seems to be the floor with a player like McConnell, game after game. This matchup is also a good one, as it should be a close game and with an up-tempo pace.
Matthew Dellavedova CLE vs. ORL ($4,200): Everyone remembers Delly from the NBA Finals and he's in a nice situation right now. He is currently filling in as the starting point guard with Mo Williams sidelined with an ankle injury. Dellavedova has started the last two games and has scored 21 and 25 fantasy points. That is fantastic value for a $4,200 player and we'll continue to take advantage of that here. This is also a very good matchup, as Orlando rank in the bottom half of fantasy points allowed to point guards this season. He should also see at least 30 minutes and come close to recording double-digit assists yet again. While Delly doesn't present a whole lot of upside, he should have no problem giving us 5X value at his cheap price.
Shooting Guard:
J.R. Smith vs. ORL ($5,100): Using a player like J.R. Smith can be extremely frustrating at times, but let's take a risk here in a good spot. What I like so much about Smith right now are all the minutes he's getting in the absence of Mo Williams and Kyrie Irving. Smith is asked to play even more than usual and is playing almost non-stop. In fact, he has averaged 41 minutes over his last four games. That's an absurd amount of playing time, especially for a player in the $5,000 range. In that span, Smith is averaging about 24 fantasy points a game as well. With the 13 shots a game he is averaging in that span, it's hard to pass up on Smith simply due to all the volume he's currently getting.
Danny Green vs. PHX ($4,100): Green has been featured in a couple articles for me and it simply doesn't make sense why he is performing so poorly. The shooting guard has played at least 27 minutes in every game this season, but just hasn't found his stroke. He's shooting just 33 percent and not providing the blocks and steals he was in the past. I truly believe that all that regression will come back to earth and that Green will get hot sometime soon. When he does, I want to be on him at this extremely cheap price. This looks like a good opportunity for him to get right, against the most up-tempo paced team in the league. There should be plenty of transition threes for Green to capitalize on and that's the best time to use a guy like him. If he continues to play like this for another week or two, then we'll call it quits, but we need to be on him at this price to try to capitalize on his ridiculous upside at $4,200.
Small Forward:
Nicolas Batum CHA vs. SAC ($6,800): Batum is about as reliable of a player as you could ask for in DFS and he's still reasonably priced. He is currently averaging about 30 fantasy points a game and is the centerpiece of this Hornets offense right now. His ability to stuff a stat sheet makes him extremely reliable, which is fantastic considering all the risky choices there are at small forward. The Kings also rank in the bottom-10 in fantasy points allowed to small forwards and with the pace they play at, it's fantasy gold for opponents. It appears that Rudy Gay may end up missing this game as well and that should make things even easier on Batum.
Omri Casspi @ CHA ($4,200): If Rudy Gay is to miss this game, Casspi would become the value of the day. Casspi regularly fills-in for Gay or Cousins when they miss time and he provides fantastic value. Over his last two games, Casspi has played 71 minutes and averaged 13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and one steal per game. His per-36 minute numbers are impressive as well, as he averages 15 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. I wouldn't use Casspi if Gay does end up playing, but all these factors make him a great choice at just $4,200 if Gay does end up sitting Monday's game.
Power Forward:
Tristan Thompson vs. ORL ($5,600): Thompson might be one of the highest-owned players on Monday, but rightfully so. He has always been a fantastic rebounder off the bench, but he is now a starter with Timofey Mozgov missing multiple weeks due to injury. In Thompson's first start, he tallied nine points, 16 rebounds and five assists to accumulate nearly 38 fantasy points. He also played 40 minutes in that game and should see a huge influx in minutes going forward with the lack of frontcourt depth in Cleveland right now. There's only a handful of players who have the capability of grabbing 20 rebounds on a given night and none of them are even close to being as cheap as Thompson.
Kristaps Porzingis @ MIA ($6,300): Many skeptics were talking down Porzingis when he was drafted by the Knicks, but they are eating their words now. He is coming off the game of his career on Saturday, as he tallied 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks against the Houston Rockets. That upside is hard to match, especially for a $6,300 player. This is also one of those situations where the ownership percentage will be incredibly high, but he's worth the risk. The Heat are also poor at defending power forwards, as they rank 29th in rebounding against power forwards, allowing nearly 13 boards a game. The only reason Porzingis' price isn't at $7,000 is because he is a rookie and there is still some skepticism out there. Let's take advantage of the haters and continue to use this scorching-hot rookie.
Center:
Karl-Anthony Towns vs. PHI ($7,200): Towns is an incredible rookie and he's putting up some gaudy numbers. The floor for Towns is 25 fantasy points and he's approached 50 fantasy points a couple of times this season. What is so enticing about this play is that he gets to face one of the worst defenses in the NBA in the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers actually rank as the second-worst defense against centers over their last five games and it's always a good idea to use players against them. My favorite stat is that Philly is being blocked nearly five times a game from centers this year, which ranks dead-last by quite the margin. Towns averages about 2.4 blocks a game and he should be in line for three-plus here. He is also a fantastic candidate for a double-double and if he does that with the blocks, he's a great value just above $7,000.
