Nine games on tonight's NBA DFS main slate so let's find those much-needed value plays to build your lineups around!
Wendell Carter Jr. is currently questionable to play tonight with an illness. Should he end up sitting out we likely see Okeke move into the starting lineup. If you have listened to the NBA DFS podcast with myself and James Grande then you should already know that we like Okeke anyways when he is coming off the bench so a move into the starting lineup and the increased minutes would only sweeten the pot for us.
The Pacers frontcourt can certainly be a headache at times but the one player that is really starting to separate himself from the pack is Jalen Smith. A key to his recent success is his literal ability to stay on the floor. After fouling out in just 17 minutes against the Bucks we have seen a five-game stretch where Smith has committed no more than one foul. He is averaging 29 minutes over the last four games and 30 fantasy points over that stretch which is nearly 6x return on his price tag tonight.
We are chasing the dragon a bit here when it comes to Beasley as we've experienced both success and failure from him in spots where he is expected to see increased playing time and produce. With Anthony Edwards out of the lineup the other night we got 33 fantasy points in 28 minutes. Tonight he has a nice matchup against the Thunder and Edwards is still out of the lineup. Could we get another 10x return? Or will disappoint?
The Raptors have already ruled out Fred VanVleet for tonight's matchup against the Magic which means Flynn will be in the starting lineup against for Toronto. We got just 19 fantasy points last night from Flynn against the Pistons but went for 36 FP in the two games prior. I'd expect another game of near 30+ minutes in another favorable matchup.
Payne played 20 minutes in his return to the Suns lineup, finishing with 25 fantasy points in his team's 30-point win over the Blazers. He should continue to start and he finds himself in a very nice matchup against the Knicks tonight and should this game be a bit more competitive I would expect his minutes to run closer to the 25-to-30 range than 20-to-25 range.