NBA DFS Picks For FanDuel 1/3/22

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and is having a wonderful start to the new year! As things still stand, there are many players in the league's health and safety protocols, so other players will have to step in and fill the void, creating for interesting DFS scenarios. The main slate tonight is a large sized one that features 10 total games, so there are plenty of intriguing player options to choose from. As on most slates, we have a lot of prevalent injury news that we are waiting on which could shake up the slate when released. Be sure to keep on eye on these injury situations as we approach roster lock. Let's dive in to the breakdown of the NBA main slate on FanDuel tonight!

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Top Play:

Norman Powell (SF/SG - $6000) -

With Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic all out for the Trail Blazer tonight, Norman Powell will need to operate as the team's primary offensive threat against the Hawks. Although it is a very small sample size, Norman Powell has seen an absurd 39.0% usage rate when playing with both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum off the court, and is averaging just shy of 1 FD point per minute in that time. Sitting at $6000, his price hasn't been adjusted for an increased role with Damian Lillard out, which creates for an ideal smash spot tonight. Powell has played 30 minutes or more in each of his past 11 games, including playing a staggering 40+ minutes in 6 of those. If he can register 35+ minutes which he should be able to do with ease, I expect Powell to exceed 6x value tonight.

Best Value:

Anfernee Simons (PG/SG - $3700) -

As mentioned above, CJ McCollum is still out indefinitely, and Damian Lillard has been ruled out for tonight's affair with his abdomen injury, meaning the remaining Blazers guards will need to step into a larger role. Anfernee Simons is expected to play after clearing health and safety protocols, and will need to be heavily involved in the teams game plan. Assuming he plays quality minutes with decent usage, Anfernee Simons should smash value as he is priced just above the minimum at $3700. When Simons has been on the court without Dame and CJ this season, he is seeing a very high usage rate of 32.6% while averaging .77 FD points per minute. If Simons sits out or is limited in action in his first game out of protocols, then swap the best value play to his teammate, Dennis Smith Jr.

Main Player Pool:

Point Guard:

Luka Doncic (PG/SG - $10000)

Dennis Smith ($4000)

Anfernee Simons (PG/SG - $3700)

Other great plays: Trae Young ($9800), Ja Morant ($9500), Cade Cunningham (PG/SG - $7500), Kyle Lowry ($7400), Seth Curry (PG/SG - $6400), Reggie Jackson ($6000), Shake Milton (PG/SG - $4200), Tyus Jones ($4100), Tim Frazier ($3900)

Shooting Guard:

Bradley Beal ($9100)

Tyler Herro (SG/SF - $6500)

Will Barton (SG/SF - $6100)

Other great plays: James Harden (SG/PG - $11400), DeMar DeRozan (SG/SF - $8700), Zach LaVine (SG/SF - $8300), Jalen Green (SG/PG - $5900), Cam Reddish (SG/SF - $5400), Terance Mann (SG/SF - $5300), Caleb Martin (SG/SF - $5300), Kevin Huerter (SG/SF - $5200), Pat Connaughton (SG/SF - $4800), Derrick Jones (SG/SF - $3900)

Small Forward:

Jimmy Butler (SF/SG - $9800)

Norman Powell (SF/SG - $6000)

Jae'Sean Tate (SF/PF - $5600)

Other great plays: Franz Wagner (SF/SG - $6800), Kyle Kuzma (SF/PF - $6800), Andrew Wiggins ($6400), Eric Gordon (SF/SG - $5100), Royce O'Neale (SF/PF - $4300), Corey Kispert ($3700)

Power Forward:

Wendell Carter (PF/C - $7100)

Aaron Gordon ($5200)

Daniel Theis (PF/C - $3800)

Other great plays: Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF/SF - $11600), Tobias Harris (PF/SF - $7100), Jaren Jackson (PF/C - $6800), Jarred Vanderbilt ($6000), Brandon Clarke ($4800), Trey Lyles ($4800), Serge Ibaka (PF/C - $4000)

Center:

Nikola Jokic ($11500)

Daniel Gafford ($6100)

Naz Reid ($4600)

Other great plays: Joel Embiid ($10800), Rudy Gobert ($9000), Clint Capela ($8300), Omer Yurtseven ($6400), Steven Adams ($4900)

Cover Picture Attribution: Frenchieinportland, AnferneeSimons (cropped), CC BY-SA 4.0