Since NBA DFS is easier to predict than baseball or football, it would likely get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Basketball players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right? Trust me -- it's not!

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure that you're up to date with key injuries. numberFire's projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news. numberFire also has player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

In addition to daily projections, numberFire also offers a matchup heat map and a lineup optimizer to help give you an edge.

Here at FanDuel Research, we'll also come at you each day with this NBA DFS primer, which breaks down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's dive into today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

The new standards for NBA awards truly have quieted the top of the FanDuel player pool. We just haven't see the marquee names resting in the first week of the season -- but it's early.

Once again, the most notable injury report traffic on this 11-game slate is with the Brooklyn Nets' frontcourt. Nicolas Claxton (ankle) and Cameron Johnson (calf) remain out for Monday's game against the Charlotte Hornets.

OG Anunoby is questionable for Monday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers after cramping issues on Saturday. Precious Achiuwa (groin) is doubtful to play, and in case you missed it over the weekend, Anfernee Simons (thumb) is out for a while on the other side for Portland.

The Milwaukee Bucks sat Khris Middleton (knee) for yesterday's game, so he's likely good to go against the Miami Heat. Bam Adebayo (hip) and Kevin Love (shoulder) are questionable for the Heat, and Caleb Martin (knee) and Josh Richardson (foot) are doubtful.

Daniel Gafford (ankle) is a true question mark for the Washington Wizards as they battle the Boston Celtics, which could free up minutes in the Wiz's frontcourt.

Like on Friday, the Memphis Grizzlies will be missing Santi Aldama (ankle) and Luke Kennard (concussion).

Finally, the Utah Jazz might be missing a few bench minutes from Ochai Agbaji, who is questionable to face the Denver Nuggets due to a knee issue.

NBA DFS Picks

Guards

Top Plays

• Trae Young ($9,100)
  • The highest total of the day is in Atlanta, the Atlanta Hawks' lead scoring option comes at a great salary. His 30.3% usage rate to begin the season is its usual healthy mark, and he likely soars past 30 points yesterday if not for the favorable blowout.
• Spencer Dinwiddie ($6,000)
  • At full health, he'll have playing time concerns due to Cameron Thomas' emergence, but with Johnson sitting, we can expect closer to the 39 minutes he logged Friday. Posting 37.92 FanDuel points per 36 minutes last year, he can cash in on them.
• Scoot Henderson ($5,000)
  • Scoot has experienced growing pains -- to say the least -- in his first two NBA games, but the Blazers will keep with him in a lost season. His 25 minutes played on Friday were due to foul trouble.
  • We don't have the injury-related value to pass on many full-time players at $5,000, and numberFire's projections believe in his obvious upside given the natural talent.

Others to Consider

• Kyrie Irving ($8,800)
  • The Dallas Mavericks have been Luka Doncic's show to begin the year, but Irving has yet to pop for a signature scoring game. Eclipsing 27 points scored in 8 of his last 13 games a year ago, we can expect a showing like that soon.
• Jordan Poole ($7,300)
  • Poole is still undersalaried due to a blowout in the Wizards' opener. He's posted 38.2 FanDuel points per 36 minutes thus far, and Washington plays at the league's fastest pace to quell some concerns about the vaunted C's defense.
• Terry Rozier ($7,200)
  • We have so many Brooklyn pieces on this slate that turning to Charlotte makes sense given the value of stacking. Rozier's salary is suppressed after a Friday clunker (26.1 FanDuel points), and LaMelo Ball ($9,400) might also be worth a look as he exits his minutes restriction.
• Kyle Lowry ($5,000)
  • Just from researching season-long fantasy basketball, I figured I'd be on Lowry early this season. Last season's concern was his workload, but with Gabe Vincent now gone without a replacement, expect him to keep chewing minutes despite playing out his age-37 season.

Wings

Top Plays

• Desmond Bane ($8,700)
  • I want a piece of the Dallas defense (114.4 defensive rating) whenever I can get one, and Bane's salary drop makes him an intriguing target in this top tier. His 31.3% usage rate leads the Grizz by a solid margin, and there's mammoth upside taking 10.0 threes a night.
• DeMar DeRozan ($8,000)
  • The 229.5-point total for the Chicago Bulls-Indiana Pacers matchup is elite, but targeting it is beyond tricky. DeRozan posted 40.4 FanDuel points per 36 minutes last year to Zach LaVine's 37.9. I still think he's the top dog in this offense despite LaVine's 51-point explosion on Saturday.
• Dorian Finney-Smith ($4,600) and Royce O'Neale ($4,100)
  • Brooklyn really said, "a center? We don't need one." on Friday. Both DFS and Royce O'Neale eclipsed 32 minutes filling that role, and their salaries don't reflect that. They are the supreme, high-floor, injury-related values plays du jour.

Others to Consider

• Mikal Bridges ($7,700)
  • I could realistically write up every Nets player today, but Bridges is the best option for tournaments. His higher salary will keep him at a lower roster rate, and his ceiling is easily the highest, recording 11 games with at least 30 points scored last year after the trade to Brooklyn.
• Bruce Brown Jr. ($6,000)
  • Rick Carlisle's rotation shenanigans are back in 2023-24, and it's effectively left us with three Pacers guaranteed any sort of playing time. Brown has the lowest salary of them, posting 29.1 FanDuel points per 36 minutes so far. I'd only use him when targeting this game with stacks.
• Jalen Williams ($5,600)
  • If there's a "chalk" game I'll leave behind, it's the Oklahoma City Thunder's battle with the Detroit Pistons. Detroit's rotation is a mess, and OKC's scoring tree is a mile wide. Williams' salary is the friendliest compared to his role (21.8% usage) due to poor shooting (56.6 TS%) so far.
• Ziaire Williams ($4,500)
  • Young players make leaps, and it appears Williams has. He was ignorable getting 30-plus minutes a year ago, but he's locked into that role with Kennard out, and he's delivered 24.4 FanDuel points per 36 minutes thus far.
  • He's in my favorite game of the day, too.

Bigs

Top Plays

• Jaren Jackson Jr. ($8,600)
  • The only game of the day with two top-10 teams in pace is Dallas-Memphis, and Jackson is another underperformer that can get right within it.
  • His TS% (58.8%) isn't that far off from last year, but he's yet to record double-digit boards and has recorded just seven total assists. The ceiling game hasn't happened, but numberFire's projections (42.4 FanDuel points) are optimistic.
• Nikola Vucevic ($7,400)
  • If Bulls-Pacers does go bananas, we know the key players. Myles Turner ($7,500) is fresh off a 39.5-FanDuel-point performance as one of the few Pacers to target, but nF's projections prefer Vuc as "Ol' Reliable".
  • He also took a backseat in the LaVine explosion, but this salary has dipped to a spot where we might want to buy. He posted 41.4 FanDuel points per 36 minutes in this exact floor situation a year ago.
• Chris Boucher ($4,000)
  • Toronto has the second-most relevant injury news to Brooklyn with the possibility Anunoby and Achiuwa both sit. That would open the door for a significant role for Boucher, who is already projected for 22.0 FanDuel points in 22.0 minutes. Any expansion of that role would approach must-play territory.

Others to Consider

• Pascal Siakam ($8,400) and Jakob Poeltl ($5,900)
  • The Raps' other frontcourt members will get a boost should that injury situation come to fruition, too. Portland-Toronto has a low total (216.5), but we'll be targeting Scoot and Boucher as value plays, and these two correlate should that one exceed expectations.
• Zion Williamson ($8,100)
  • Williamson's role has been more of a 1A/1B with Brandon Ingram ($7,900) than I expected, but as the two are nearly the same salary, I want to prefer Zion when he posted 46.7 FanDuel points per 36 last year to Ingram's 42.3. Both could be be seen as quality plays in a projected shootout with the Golden State Warriors.
• Andrew Wiggins ($6,100)
  • Draymond Green returned on Sunday to jumble Golden State's frontcourt to an unusable place, but numberFire is keen on both Wiggins and Klay Thompson ($5,900) as bring-back options to use the Pels' stars.
• Mike Muscala ($3,800)
  • Gafford could be an under-the-radar injury for the slate. It would almost certainly thrust Muscala into a full role without another seven-footer on Washington's roster, and someone has to guard Kristaps Porzingis ($8,800).

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.