This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
With eight games on the schedule for Wednesday's slate, there's a ton of options to sort through at all levels of the price scale. The following list should provide a handful of players to consider building your lineup around:
GUARDS:
Will Barton, DEN at CHI ($7,700): Barton is getting extremely expensive compared to where he's been over the last month or so of the season. However, he's coming off a 49.3-point outing Monday and should have all the confidence in the world. When you add that to the fact that he'll once again draw the start in place of the ailing Gary Harris (knee) and should see a monster workload, the potential to hit value is still there despite the price. Barton should have no problems taking advantage of his matchup with the Bulls, who are without a slew of their regular starters (Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen).
Darren Collison, IND at NOP ($6,100): After returning from an extended absence due to a knee injury, Collison had been delegated to a bench role behind Cory Joseph for five straight games. However, he finally reclaimed his typical starting role Monday against the Lakers and made the most of it, posting 15 points, four rebounds, eight assists and one steal across 33 minutes. Now that he's back to starting and seeing a full workload, it's safe to use Collison in DFS contests once again and considering the Pelicans have given up the third most FanDuel points to point guards on the season, this seems like a prime opportunity to do so.
Rajon Rondo, NOP vs IND ($5,400): Rondo's output has fluctuated fairly significantly over his last four games, posting two games with more than 55 FanDuel points, while also turning in two with less than 30. However, with Jrue Holiday (illness) questionable again after missing Tuesday's game, Rondo could be in line for added usage at point guard once again, so keep an eye on Holiday's status up until tip-off. I'd be okay with using Rondo even if Holiday is in the lineup, though obviously his upside would be higher if the latter were to remain sidelined.
FORWARDS:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL vs LAC ($12,000): While LeBron James ($12,800) continues to perform at an absurdly high rate, I'm willing to drop nearly $1,000 down and go with Antetokounmpo instead, as he's also put together some solid production of late and has an uptempo matchup scheduled against the Clippers. Antetokounmpo is averaging 36.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.7 steals across 39.3 minutes over his last three games, which is good enough for 66.7 FanDuel points. Looking at the Clippers roster, there doesn't appear to much that will stand in the way of another strong game from Antetokounmpo, so go ahead and fire him up as one of the better top-tier plays Wednesday.
Wilson Chandler, DEN at CHI ($6,100): After a sluggish first half of the season, Chandler has really come on of late and has averaged 31.7 FanDuel points over his last five contests. He's also facing off against a Bulls team that will be without its three best players in Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, so Chandler shouldn't have much of a problem putting up another strong all-around line. His price is admittedly at the highest it's been since the end of February, which is typically what I try to avoid. However, it doesn't really scare me off here due to the fact that the Nuggets should be able to dominate the Bulls, giving Chandler every opportunity to surpass the 30-FanDuel-point mark.
Noah Vonleh, CHI vs. DEN ($4,000): Vonleh is definitely one of the more risky picks I have listed, but that's to be expected considering his $4,000 price. He's more of a tournament play and can likely be avoided in double-ups. That said, as I mentioned previously, the Bulls are going to be without rookie starter Markkanen in the frontcourt, which means Vonleh is slated for another sizable workload. Vonleh has averaged 28.7 minutes over his last three games with Markkanen out, with two double-digit rebounding performances included, so if he can improve a bit on his numbers offensively, he'd make for a really strong play at a near minimum price.
CENTERs:
Dwight Howard, CHA at BKN ($8,300): Of all the centers on Wednesday's slate, Howard has the most intriguing matchup, as he'll be up against a Nets squad that has given up the most FanDuel points to centers on the season. Howard, himself, has struggled a bit of late, posting just 16.3 and 30.6 FanDuel points over his last two games, respectively. However, that opens the opportunity for a huge bounce-back effort and we could see something closer to the 55.0 FanDuel points he averaged in three prior games to the two aforementioned performances.
Kyle O'Quinn, NYK at MIA ($5,300): If you can't afford any of the mid-to-upper tier centers on Wednesday's slate, O'Quinn offers the opportunity to get a discounted price in your lineup. He's only averaged 20.2 minutes over his last five games, but has been extremely efficient when he's on the court, averaging 31.0 FanDuel points during that five-game span. With Lance Thomas (personal) set to miss another game Wednesday, that could open a handful more minutes for O'Quinn, giving him 30-FanDuel-point potential once again. At a price of $5,300, there's room to work with there and he still has the chance to hit value.
