Welcome, my friends, to another edition of NBA Wednesdays and DFS action. It's the best day of the week, if you ask me. Tonight, we have a loaded 10 game slate, with some enticing matchups. Below are my daily fantasy NBA lineup picks for FanDuel on 12/14/16. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays on FanDuel.

Before we dive into player selection and analysis, let's see if we can derive any insights from the lines Vegas has listed. Due to back-to-backs, there are a few games without point totals (over/unders) or spreads yet, but the majority have been posted. Looking for a team to stack? The following teams, in descending order, have the highest projected point totals for Wednesday: Lakers (114), Nets (113), Rockets (113), Raptors (107) and the Hornets and Wizards are both at 106. Both the Lakers-nets matchup and Hornets-Wizards contest look ripe for stacking, as they list high projected totals and very low point spreads.

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FanDuel DFS Guards

Kyle Lowry - PG, at PHI ($8,700)

Mr. Lowry has been on fire of late, exceeding value in eight of his last 10 games - by an impressive margin of nearly five FanDuel points per night. He put up a "dud" from a fantasy perspective in his most recent game, but aside from that, he's been hot all of December. Amazingly, in this stretch of games where he has been outperforming expectations, his price has only risen $100. He's quite the bargain tonight, in my opinion, and one that has a real high ceiling. The matchup tonight is a good one, as the Sixers have been fruitful to opposing point guards and also move at a pace much faster than the NBA average, meaning more opportunities for Lowry and his Toronto teammates. For the season, Lowry has a strong usage rate of 25 and a pretty impressive PER of 22.6.

J.R. Smith - SG, at MEM - $3,500

So long as he doesn't go absolutely ice cold from the field, JR Smith could be the steal of the season tonight in terms of production per dollar paid. On any given night, a player of Smith's shooting caliber for the bare minimum price is somewhat of steal, but on a night like tonight he has a far higher ceiling. Why? Well, the Cavs are resting LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving. This should lead to a multitude of shooting opportunities for Smith, he who is never afraid to let it fly. For the season, Smith has a usage rate of just 13.4, but I expect tonight's figure to be in the 20's and his health should be no issue, as he played more than 30 minutes in their most recent game.

Lou Williams - SG, at BKN - $6,200

Lou is my favorite target in the matchup I have my eyes on the most tonight, as the game should be a fast paced, high-scoring affair. On top of that, Williams has been hot as of late, exceeding value in seven of his last 10 games, by a very impressive margin of more than 10 FanDuel points per night. For the season, he has a usage rate just a fraction under 30 and plays 30+ minutes a night, which helps to create a very high floor. His ceiling is raised by the fact that he always, always gets up double digit shot attempts - and even has a pair of games this month where he attempted more than 20 field goals. The Nets struggle greatly on defense, and I expect Williams to shine tonight.

Also Consider: Kemba Walker - PG, at WAS - $7,400

 

FanDuel DFS Forwards

Kawhi Leonard - SF, vs BOS - $8,300

The small forward crop is a bit underwhelming tonight, and I think you'll have to pay up if you want solid production - whether it be cash or tournaments games you're playing. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know by saying that Leonard is a monster all over the court, capable of scoring fantasy points in a multitude of different ways. What you may not know, though, is that he has the highest PER (27.1) and usage rate (28.5) of any small forward playing tonight, and the matchup against Boston is a good one.

Trevor Booker - PF, vs LAL - $5,900

It would be a stretch to call Booker a model of consistency this season, but from a fantasy perspective, the dude has been pretty strong throughout the season - and even has a couple 40+ FanDuel point nights under his belt. He has one of the more impressive PER's of any power forward playing tonight, sitting at 17.8, and what he lacks in usage, he makes up for with monster rebound totals and a block here and there. Tonight, he's a bit of a bargain at this price point and the matchup is a good one against Los Angeles.

Also Consider: Gordon Hayward - SF, vs OKC - $8,100

 

FanDuel DFS Centers

Joel Embiid - C, vs TOR - $7,000

Keep an eye on his health status for tonight, as Embiid is currently listed as probable. Now that that's out of the way, I can gush about what an amazing DFS asset Embiid has been for my teams. He has an incredible usage rate this season of 34.5 and he's been incredibly efficient in his time on the court - which has been increasing, thanks to a rising minutes restriction - with 1.37 FanDuel points per minute. The matchup Embiid has tonight is a strong one, too, as the Raptors have given up more than 2.7 points above the average to opposing centers this season.

Also Consider: Andre Drummond - C, at DAL - $8,400

 

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