FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks and Helper: Thursday 11/16/23

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.

NBA DFS Picks

Guards

Top Plays

Chris Paul ($7,100) -- The Golden State Warriors are the marquee news spot on the slate. Stephen Curry is out for a bit with his knee injury, and Draymond Green attempted his latest conversion of basketball to MMA and was suspended five games. As such, most of their starters are undersalaried on FanDuel, yet Chris Paul might go a bit overlooked with a maximum of four in your lineup and the highest salary of all. He posted 35.0 FanDuel points in 36 minutes on Tuesday, but his uptick in usage rate with Curry and Green off the floor (3.1 percentage points) provides additional room to grow.

Kyle Lowry ($5,200) -- Value Dubs on the slate should lead to Kyle Lowry going overlooked a bit, but the 38-year-old is arguably the engine that's kept the Miami Heat chugging with Tyler Herro out of the lineup. Lowry has posted 31.5 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with Herro off the floor. A low usage rate (14.9%) in that floor condition caps his upside, but that's a concern for a different day with a different salary. He only logged 15 minutes last game due to foul trouble.

Others to Consider

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,300) -- There is no shortage of sub-$6,000 options on the slate, and that salary has to go somewhere. I wouldn't be in love with this salary for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a full slate with alternatives, but he's 49 FanDuel points in five straight and is a heavy, heavy favorite to lead the slate in outright scoring.

Klay Thompson ($5,800) -- While Draymond finished it, Klay Thompson started it and was ejected minutes into Tuesday's game. Brandin Podziemski took 18 shots over the course of 39 minutes in his stead, and the future Hall of Famer can certainly cash this salary in that sort of opportunity without Curry. He's projected for 28.3 FanDuel points by numberFire.

Wings

Top Plays

Jimmy Butler ($8,600) -- Though the Brooklyn Nets represent a tougher overall matchup than the Charlotte Hornets did, Jimmy Butler should keep rolling tonight. Brooklyn's overall pace and defensive rating are better than Charlotte's, but they're still allowing the fourth-most FanDuel points per game to small forwards (46.2). Jimmy dropped 32 points in that one and has a healthy, team-best usage rate (27.8%) with Herro off the floor.

Andrew Wiggins ($4,900) -- Andrew Wiggins tried his best to get rolling without Klay, Steph, and Draymond on Tuesday, but the shots kept missing. He went 4-for-15 (26.7%) from the field in 28 minutes as Podziemski shined, but Wiggins' defense and rebounding still got him to 25.4 FanDuel points. Though Klay being back should hurt his shot volume, he can absolutely overcome those concerns by making a few more on Thursday.

Others to Consider

Cameron Johnson ($6,100) -- While Cameron Johnson paid off his chalk status on Tuesday, it wasn't quite the role you'd hope for at $6,100 now. His low usage rate (20.6%) was offset by tremendous efficiency (78.4 TS%). I think he's closer to a fade if there are indications a significant portion of the field is going back to the well.

Josh Richardson ($4,800) -- Miami has a playoff-esque rotation with six guys seeing at least 30 minutes last game, and no one else topped 15. Josh Richardson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($5,600) logged 33 minutes each as Lowry battled foul trouble, but J-Rich's role might be stickier than the rookie's. Richardson saw his court time despite 2-for-10 shooting versus Jaquez' red-hot effort (8-for-13).

Bigs

Top Plays

Kevon Looney ($5,900) -- With Draymond off the floor, Kevon Looney shined a year ago, and that trend has held true in 2023-24. Despite a clunker on Tuesday against a Minnesota Timberwolves squad that's a brutal matchup for an undersized center, Looney has averaged 38.4 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with Steph and Draymond off the floor. I won't hesitate to plug him in at center in single-entry formats.

Haywood Highsmith ($5,400) -- Last year's NBA Finals hero in Game 2 has made good on his recent full-time promotion. Highsmith has topped 33 FanDuel points in his last two games logging at least 30 minutes, and the strong defender is going to heavily correlate to minutes played averaging 4.58 stocks (steals plus blocks) per 36 minutes with Herro off the floor. It's not really luck for some guys, and Highsmith appears to be another.

Others to Consider

Bam Adebayo ($10,000) -- Adebayo's salary seems high based on years in the $8,000 range. He's topped 50 FanDuel points in five consecutive games, but they've all come against bottom-12 teams in defensive rating. Now in a stiffer matchup, Looney's presence allows me to keep collecting data now that Butler, Lowry, and Highsmith are entrenched next to him.

Chet Holmgren ($7,800) -- Holmgren is always going to be a high-risk, high-reward DFS target with a salary that encompasses his absurd block ceiling. He's eclipsed 46 FanDuel points just once all year with lower-than-ideal court time (30.0 minutes per game) for a stud. The only way he can burn faders on this slate is a block party, but the Warriors are just 16th in blocks per game allowed to centers (3.1).

Interested in playing NBA daily fantasy? FanDuel has plenty of contest options to make every moment more. Be sure to check out the NBA betting options, as well.

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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.