This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are nine games on Monday's slate and no shortage of stars. Six players come in priced over $10,000. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the day's highest-priced player at a whopping $12,200 (he's averaging 52.7 fantasy points). The Bulls/Mavericks matchup has Monday's highest over/under at 229.0, which should be a quality source of value. Warriors/Suns figures to be the most lopsided affair, with Golden State favored by 12.5 points.
Below, I'll run through some value play options. For full disclosure, I typically enter tournaments, but I believe the following players should be effective regardless of format.
Point Guard
Lonzo Ball ($6,800), LAL vs. SA
Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram are suspended for Monday's contest against the Spurs for their roles in a fight during Saturday's game against the Rockets. That leaves Ball and LeBron James as the two primary ballhandlers on the team. Priced at $6,300 during Saturday's game, Ball posted 27.2 fantasy points on the back of 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Notably, he looked comfortable from beyond the arc, drilling four of his eight three-point attempts. Even with his poor shooting last season, Ball was a legitimate threat to post a triple-double every night. That may not be the case as much this year when Ingram and Rondo are around, so Saturday's game is a great opportunity to get the most upside out of Ball. The Spurs are just a -1 favorite, meaning Ball could get plenty of run down the stretch as well.
Shooting Guard
Josh Hart ($5,800), LAL vs. SA
Admittedly, Ball and Hart will probably be chalky, but there's too much potential for me to ignore. Before the suspensions to Rondo and Ingram, Hart was relatively underpriced, posting 39.3 fantasy points when at $4,200 and 27.0 fantasy points when priced at $4,300. Hart's price has understandably taken a leap with the suspensions and his recent play, but not so much that value has dissolved. He's already registering 29.0 minutes and 12.5 field-goal attempts per game, which are numbers that should increase Monday. It's important to remember what Hart did during the final 18 games of last season -- 14.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals (28.9 fantasy points) across 33.3 minutes.
Small Forward
Joe Ingles ($7,100), UTA vs. MEM
The Grizzlies have surrendered 228 points through two games, while the Jazz have posted 247 points through two games. This game has a 216.5 over/under, which would have been absurd for a Grizzlies/Jazz contest last season. Ingles is generally a player I would target in pace-up matchups last season -- Jazz/Warriors, Jazz/Suns, Jazz/Pelicans. But at this point, I'll play him here until either of these teams prove to me they're actually going to play slowly. Ingles' price has been brought up appropriately since the beginning of this year. He had posted 39.2 and 45.8 fantasy points at $5,500 and $6,300, respectively, coming into Monday's contest. Ingles represents a quality upside play, as he can get hot from three, hand out assists and rack up steals.
Power Forward
Bobby Portis ($7,100), CHI at DAL
Portis was sub-$6,000 for the first two games of the year until he dropped a combined 26 points, 25 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. You aren't getting as much value Monday, but Portis has clear 40-plus point upside and still dropped 31.3 fantasy points Saturday against the Pistons while going only 2-of-12 from the field. Portis has taken the third-most field-goal attempts on the Bulls behind Zach Lavine and Jabari Parker, and Portis has been on the court for the third-most minutes behind LaVine and Justin Holiday. It seems safe to say he's a crucial part of Chicago's gameplan and is much more than the dart throw that he was at times last season.
Center
Deandre Ayton ($7,600), PHO at GS
Ayton put up a dud (14.1 fantasy points) against Nikola Jokic on Saturday, but that doesn't discourage me from banking on his upside Monday. The Warriors have far fewer skilled centers than the Nuggets, and they won't be shooting threes like Jokic, which brought Ayton away from the basket, preventing him from easy rebounding and shot-blocking opportunities. Ayton looked great all preseason and dropped 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block (45 fantasy points) in the opener. I believe that's more indicative of what we can expect from Ayton on most nights, rather than the five points, eight rebounds and one assist he produced against Denver.
