This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
For this Mondays schedule, we have a seven-game slate with some fascinating matchups. It should be a high-scoring night with a ton of fantasy production, as there are no totals below 195 for this Monday's schedule. Two of the top four players based on price are questionable coming into Monday's games, so it's definitely worth your time to monitor injury reports prior to submitting lineups at 7ET. These injury situations can open up some fantastic value plays and that's one of the major keys to success on FanDuel.
Point Guard:
Emmanuel Mudiay vs. POR ($5,600): Mudiay is an impressive rookie with worlds of talent and he's just going to continue to get better at the ripe age of 19-years-old. While his propensity to turn the ball over can be frustrating at times, it's not for a lack of effort. The Nuggets point guard has shown an elite ability to assist early in his career and has provided great counting stats for fantasy owners. He is averaging 11.8 points, 5.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game so far this season. What is so intriguing about Mudiay is that he has the reins on the Denver offense and is asked to handle the ball on nearly every possession to set up the offense. The icing on the cake is the matchup here against Portland. Blazers guard Damian Lillard is a fantastic scorer, but he is known as one of the worst defenders in the NBA and a major liability on that end of the floor.
T.J. McConnell vs. CHI ($4,600): It's hard to understand why FanDuel is so slow to react on McConnell, but he's a must-use at just $4,600. When playing on FanDuel, the goal is to get five-times value on whatever player you use to get elite value. So with that in mind, for McConnell, we would need 23-plus FanDuel points to make him an elite play. That should be no problem for the Sixers point guard, as he has scored over 34 FanDuel points in three of his last four games. In that stretch, McConnell has stuffed the stat sheet by averaging 6.8 points, 9.3 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Those stats tell us that he is not reliant on a jump shot and that he should have no problem providing value, as long as he gets the minutes. Considering he has played at least 23 minutes in every game so far this season, that shouldn't be an issue and it makes McConnell is an absolute steal at just $4,600.
Other Suggestions: Damian Lillard @ DEN ($8,900) and Derrick Rose @ PHI ($6,900)
Shooting Guard:
Danny Green @ SAC ($4,300): I'm personally not a huge fan of Green's game, but he's simply too cheap at just $4,300. Green has been averaging about 20 FanDuel points a game this season and that means he is right below the five-times value that I discussed earlier. What is enticing about Green is that he can get hot at any moment and hit five three-pointers in a row. He is also surprisingly good at providing steals and blocks and those are worth two points each on FanDuel. A 17 point, five rebound, three assist, two block game doesn't seem like a far stretch and if he does that, he provides seven-times value. That sort of return on investment can win us some big money with very little downside and that makes Green a great play. The matchup is tasty as well, as Sacramento are easily one of the worst defenses in the NBA.
Will Barton vs. POR ($5,000): Barton got his first start of the season on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors and put up quite the line. He tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals across 39 minutes of play in the loss. That marks his fifth-straight game with at least 20 FanDuel points and he's a truly underrated player in terms of fantasy and real-life basketball. If he starts again on Monday, he should get 30-plus minutes of play and easily surpass his $5,000 price tag value. This matchup is a good one as well, as he'll be facing one of the worst defenses in the league in an up-tempo matchup. Not to mention, this is a revenge game for Barton, as he is facing the team that dumped him off for almost nothing and never really gave him a chance to prove himself.
Other Suggestion: Nik Stauskas vs. CHI ($4,300)
Small Forward:
Andrew Wiggins @ ATL ($6,900): The second-year player has been struggling a bit this season, but it's just a matter of time until he gets it going. His last game against the Chicago Bulls looks like the start of a hot stretch, as he dropped 31 points in a spectacular performance. This Minnesota and Atlanta matchup looks like one of the highest scoring games of the night and the Wolves will need to lean on their top-scorer once again to carry them to an upset victory. The most encouraging part of his 31-point performance on Saturday was that he played 41 minutes. That is the first time he has played more than 31 minutes this season and hopefully that's a sign that the Wolves will let him off the leash a bit and rack up the minutes like he did last year.
Nikola Mirotic @ PHI ($5,600): The Montenegrin has shown flashed of brilliance in his short career, but he's been struggling mightily as of late. The recent rough stretch has lowered Mirotic's price too low in my opinion and that's the best time to use a player for DFS. Mirotic has failed to surpass 13 FanDuel points in his last three games, but that's simply because of the minutes and his poor shooting. It's quite simple actually, if he's not shooting well, he won't get the minutes he needs to produce. On Monday, he faces one of the worst defenses in the NBA in Philadelphia and that's the perfect recipe for him to find his stroke. He has shown the potential to go off on any given night, as he averaged over 30 FanDuel points over his first three games. It's a risky play, but it could be a game-changer if he finds his scoring touch.
Other Suggestion: Danilo Gallinari
Power Forward:
Paul Millsap vs. MIN ($8,100): Millsap is just an amazing basketball player and he's not getting the respect he deserves. He has scored at least 35 FanDuel points in every game this season aside from the opener and that can be attributed to his brilliant all-around game. So far this season, Millsap is averaging 16.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.4 steals and one block per game. That type of all-around production makes him incredibly consistent, as he has scored between 35 and 45 FanDuel points in every game since the opener. Predicting fantasy sports can be extremely frustrating at times, so getting a consistent 35 FanDuel points into your lineup is a can't miss. In addition, this matchup is spectacular, as he'll be guarded by Kevin Garnett and Nemanja Bjelica, who are both poor defenders at this stage of their respective careers.
Nerlens Noel vs. CHI ($7,400): Noel had a rough game on Saturday, as he got ejected for a shove on Orlando's Jason Smith in the third quarter. If you take out that stinker, Noel has been fantastic this season. In his five games prior, he averaged 14.1 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks a game. His ability to provide elite numbers in blocks and steals is what makes him so enticing though, as those are worth two points each on FanDuel. This should be a game where the Sixers need him to play big against one of the best frontcourts in the NBA. A player this good will play angry after his quick hook on Saturday and that's the perfect recipe for a player with defensive-MVP potential to put up a huge line.
Other Suggestion: Aaron Gordon @ IND ($4,100)
Center:
Dewayne Dedmon @ IND ($4,100): Dedmon is my value of the night as long as Nikola Vucevic doesn't play. Dedmon has been filling in at center for Vucevic while he recovers from a knee injury and he's been fantastic in his absence. Over the last three games, Dedmon has 26 points, 20 rebounds, nine blocks and three steals. That is about a 25-point average for FanDuel points and that means he is giving us six times value on his price. That's very hard to do and it's just one of those situations that's hard to pass up. Dedmon is a double-double threat who averages nearly three blocks a game for every 30 minutes he plays. This matchup should be beneficial for Dedmon as well, as the Pacers have one of the smallest and weakest frontcourts in the NBA. In fact, Indiana has allowed a 17 rebound-three block game to Rudy Gobert, a 25 point-29 rebound game to Andre Drummond, a 12 rebound-four block game to Hassan Whiteside, and a 22 point-19 rebound-three block game to Kevin Love over the last 10 days. Obviously those numbers speak for themselves as the Pacers have one of the worst frontcourts in the NBA and that makes Dedmon a fantastic value on Monday.
Other Suggestion: Marc Gasol @ LAC ($7,200)
