January 31, 2018

Daniel Marcus highlights the top FanDuel NBA DFS lineup picks for 1/31/18, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.

The Wednesday slate is lighter than normal thanks to a busy Tuesday slate. That hasn't effected the value plays thanks to several players worth highlighting who are returning from injuries and underpriced as a result. What is lacking on this slate is a lot of high priced studs, so picking the most likely players to put up big points regardless of price will be vital to success on the slate.

LeBron James is a clear play and should be close to 100% owned in cash games. Joel Embiid also stands out as a stud option to turn to with a lot of confidence, and it shouldn't necessarily be difficult to fit them both into lineups given some of the value plays that will be highlighted below.

Below you will find our daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 1/31/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options, to lower-priced players and value picks on FanDuel.

FanDuel DFS Guards

Elfrid Payton PG - vs. LAL ($7,300)

Payton is a tournament only option for me on Wednesday due to his inconsistency on a game-to-game basis as well as the fact that he is on the back end of a back-to-back set. However, the Lakers have struggled greatly in defending point guards and with Lonzo Ball sidelined again that should be unlikely to change. Payton has shown the upside to go 6X at his price when put in the right spot, something that appears to be the case tonight.    

Tyler Johnson PG - @ CLE ($5,000)

Johnson is slowly working back from injury and has yet to reestablish himself in the offense in terms of usage rate. However, now in his third game back from injury, Johnson is already back to his full minutes workload meaning his involvement in the offense should come next. Still priced nearly $1,000 below his price point prior to injury, Johnson also has the benefit of facing a depleted Cavaliers team on Wednesday night. He is both a cash game and GPP play as a result.   

Wesley Matthews SG - @PHO ($5,400)

Matthews has gotten hot over the Mavs’ past several games and he will have another prime opportunity to do so again against the Suns on Wednesday as over the past five games, the Suns have allowed an incredible 74.9 FD points to opposing shooting guards. The risk in Matthews is that Harrison Barnes gets hot and goes off, but there’s a ton of upside in him given his current price.

FanDuel DFS Forwards

Brandon Ingram SF - @ORL ($6,700)

Ingram has worked his way back from an ankle injury and is beginning to look more like himself in terms of both minutes and ability to fill the stat sheet. On Wednesday, he’ll draw a matchup against the Magic who have allowed the second highest FD points per game to small forwards on the season. Similarly to Johnson, Ingram is still underpriced by a few hundred dollars, which will almost certainly change assuming he puts up a strong performance tonight.  

Denzel Valentine SF - @POR ($4,900)

The #FreeBobbyPortis crowd will be out in force tonight, but Valentine is a strong pivot for tonight’s slate. With Kris Dunn still sideline by a concussion and Lauri Markkanen unavailable for tonight’s game, Valentine should be in line to maintain both minutes and usage. He has gotten more assertive in looking for his shot over the past two games in which he has posted 7.9X and 6.5X return on value. Surprisingly, his price has only ticked up marginally which puts him in another strong position to put up a 6X stat-line Wednesday.     

Frank Kaminsky PF - @ATL ($4,000)

Marvin Williams has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Hawks, which should open up minutes for Kaminsky. He isn’t the most exciting option, but in the few isolated incidents (small sample alert) where he has seen minutes and positive matchups this season he has taken advantage. The most recent example came on December 31st, when he put up 35.1 FD points on the Clippers in 30 minutes. Jeff Green is the other fairly obvious punt play choice at the position, but I’ll lean Kaminsky for the favorable matchup.

FanDuel DFS Centers

Myles Turner C - vs. MEM ($5,800)

Turner is the third and final player worth highlighting who is underpriced due to recently returning from injury. At just $5,800, Turner is priced at least $2,000 less than his customary price; yet he was able to play over 20 minutes on Monday and will be re-inserted to the starting lineup on Wednesday. That leaves him vastly underpriced. This price won’t stick, but take advantage for the final time it does.

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