FanDuel NBA 3-Man Challenge Strategy: Wednesday, November 6th
Hello Grinders. Each Wednesday and Friday I’ll be discussing some of my thoughts on the new FanDuel daily fantasy sports formats.
On the NBA front, FanDuel has launched a new 3-Man Challenge game where you can select one MVP with a 2X score, a Star for a 1.5X score, and one UTIL. The three players are within a $7 salary cap and typically consists of just a few games on the slate.
On the NFL front, FanDuel has launched the 3-Man Challenge as well that consists of one MVP with a 1.5X score, then two AnyFlex spots that consists of quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. FanDuel also has a SuperFlex game that mimics their regular game but you need to select eight players: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, SuperFlex. Lastly, FanDuel also has the Pat McAfee QuickPick Kickers game where you select kicks for four different tiers and then a SuperFlex player.
Today’s article will focus on the NBA 3-Man Challenge, while I’ll dedicate Friday’s article for some football talk once we have more clarity on the NFL DFS news and injury situations. Let’s dive in!
News & Notes
FanDuel is giving us four games to work with: GS at HOU, CHI at ATL, SAC at TOR and MIN at MEM. One thing to note is that both CHI and ATL are on the backend of a back-to-back.
In terms of news and notes, Karl-Anthony Towns is back for the Wolves after his two-game suspension. The Wolves are potentially thin at the guard spot, with Jeff Teague (questionable) and Shabazz Napier (doubtful) ailing. Their absences may force Josh Okogie into more of a point guard role. On the Grizzlies side, Jaren Jackson has been upgraded to probable, which should shift Brandon Clarke back to the bench.
For the Warriors, D’Angelo Russell has missed the last two games, and should he miss again, that would leave Ky Bowman all the minutes he can handle. Draymond Green remains out, which paves the way for rookie Eric Paschall to continue starting and building off his career 34 point, 13 rebound game against the Blazers on Monday in his #birthday narrative game. On the other side, Eric Gordon is questionable with a injury and his potential absence would allow Danuel House to continue starting. The Rockets are also getting Russell Westbrook back after he rested last game.
The Hawks are dealing with John Collins suspension, which will push Jabari Parker into a starting role. This also happens to be a #revenge game for Parker against his former team, the Bulls.
The 5-1-1
If you choose to play Karl-Anthony Towns ($5) or James Harden ($5), you’ll be forced into playing two $1 players given the $7 salary cap. So before deciding whether either of these two are optimal spends, let’s take a look at the $1 bargain bin to see if there are any viable players that catch my eye:
Jabari Parker ($1) – Parker is one of my favorite punt plays in the $1 range because he’s expected to remain in the starting lineup with John Collins suspended. I do slightly worry that he played 32 minutes on Tuesday and the Hawks have been careful with his minutes, but at the same time the Bulls are ranked among the bottom third of the league in defensive efficiency. I also joke about this being a revenge game for Parker, but he put up some big scores last season against his former teams (he had a 40 FD point outing and a 46.7 FD point outing against the Bulls last year as a member of the Wizards). I will say that if you are going with a 5-1-1 approach, I prefer using Parker in the 1.5x spot.
Josh Okogie ($1) – I would only have interest in this play if both Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier get ruled out. The Timberwolves would be short on guards and some combination of Okogie, Jarrett Culver and Jordan McLaughlin would be forced into more point guard duties. We haven’t seen much of a ceiling for Okogie this ceiling, but this would be a massive pace-up spot as the Timberwolves rank 1st in pace and the Grizzlies rank 5th. Again, I’m only interested should both Teague and Napier miss this game.
Coby White ($1) – This is a real dart throw, but White dropped 31 FD points on Tuesday and has shown 30+ FD point upside several times this season already. This should be a pace-up spot and we’ve seen Hawks guards like Trae Young and Cam Reddish have a history of turnovers. I do worry White doesn’t see a ton of minutes here, but I can see a route where he can get 25-30 FD points which is valuable if you’re punting this spot.
De’Andre Hunter ($1) – This feels like points chasing a bit after he dropped 27.1 FD points on Tuesday, but what caught my eye was that he played 36 minutes. Given this is a back-to-back I’d assume his minutes get scaled down here, but it’s a sign he’s off his minutes restrictions. He’s not a big point-per-minute producer so there are concerns here, but he could be looking at decent minutes with John Collins gone and Trae Young still working his way back from injury.
Update – Adding Marc Gasol ($1) to this list. While he’s not exciting, he at least has a path to a floor with his guaranteed minutes. While building lineups I found myself debating whether I wanted to floor of Gasol or the upside of someone like White, and I found myself leaning closer to Gasol. So I thought I should at least add him to this article since I may have overlooked him upon initial review.
To be honest, not a whole lot catches my eye at this range. Parker is by far my favorite $1 option. If you decide to go with the 5-1-1 approach, I personally lean KAT over Harden as my $5 spend up. Harden does get to feast on the league’s worst defense thus far in the Warriors, but the Rockets are heavy favorites on the NBA odds board, so I do fear Harden doesn’t reach his ceiling if the Rockets blow out the Warriors.
The 4-2-1
The next group to look at would be a $4 stud, then using the remaining $3 on a $2 and a $1 player (in theory you could leave $1 on the table and play two $1 players but as we just saw, the $1 bargain bin isn’t great). Here are a few of my favorite $4 and $2 players:
Pascal Siakam ($4) – Siakam is getting the minutes and he’s scoring, but he hasn’t been getting many blocks or steals yet, which is where the fantasy points quickly add up on FanDuel. He showed in the opener he has 60+ FD point upside, but since then he’s come crashing back to earth. This is a plus-matchup against a Kings team that lacks defensive. If Siakam can continue his torrid scoring and rack up some STOCKS, I could see him paying off this $4 price tag.
Russell Westbrook ($4) – I’ll keep this brief. I have the same concerns with Westbrook as I do with Harden in terms of this game needing to stay close in order for him to really hit his ceiling. However, I do think I prefer Westbrook over Harden and getting the $1 in savings, which allows us access to the $2 player pool. Westbrook is probably my favorite option in the $4 range.
Outside of Siakam and Westbrook, I just don’t have much interest in the other $4 players. D’Angelo Russell is questionable and in a potential blowout game, while Trae Young is on a B2B and I have some concerns there. I will admit his upside is big in this matchup against the Bulls so if he’s a full go and doesn’t have a 30-minute restriction, I can see some merit to taking a shot on him. Kyle Lowry has been good, but I’d rather take shots on Westbrook in this price range before Lowry.
Let’s now scan some of my favorite $2 players:
Eric Paschall ($2) – Paschall flashed massive upside on his birthday with a 51.6 FD point outing. With Draymond Green out again, Paschall should be in line for big minutes. It’s not a good matchup against P.J. Tucker and Clint Capela, but the path for minutes are there. He’s one of my favorite $2 options.
Ky Bowman ($2) – This is purely dependent on the status of D’Angelo Russell. If Russell is out, Bowman could be locked into another 35+ minutes as the team’s lone true point guard. He’s played 37 and 38 minutes so far, and has put up 32.8 and 34.4 FD points in those games. This isn’t an easy matchup against Russell Westbrook, but he’s held his own against Damian Lillard and Terry Rozier. If Russell is playing, I’m off Bowman completely.
Jonas Valanciunas ($2) – I like JoVal a lot in tournaments today. His box scores haven’t been amazing as he continues to hover in the low 20s for minutes, but he has been upside when he gets things going. Back in March of last season, he played just 26 minutes and had a 46.3 FD point outing against KAT and the Timberwolves. If he sees his minutes creep up past the 23-24 he’s been seeing and closer to the 26-27 minute range, I like the potential upside. The Grizzlies will need his size down low to contain Towns.
Richaun Holmes ($2) – I’ll just mention that like JoVal, Holmes has massive upside. The problem I have here is the brutal matchup against Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Matchup aside, I do think the Kings have no choice but to rely on Holmes here as their best center option. I don’t know if Dewayne Dedmon is really much of an upgrade over Holmes here, so Holmes is at least on my radar for this $2 range. I do prefer Valanciunas over Holmes by a wide margin if deciding between the two.
The 3-2-2 or 3-3-1
The last group of players we need to discuss are the $3 players. Here are a few I like:
Ja Morant ($3) – I’ll admit I’m not a huge Morant guy, but the appeal here is the potential absences of both Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier. Morant could be up against a third-stringer, which boosts his appeal here in what should be a fast-paced game. Morant has only topped 30 minutes once this season so that’s a real concern, but there is still 40+ FD point upside here.
Zach LaVine ($3) – I do worry a bit about the B2B, but LaVine dropped 47.9 FD points last night and reminded us of his talent. This is a juicy matchup against the Hawks and the matchup alone makes me love LaVine in this spot. He’s one of my favorite $3 options, especially with teammate Lauri Markkanen struggling right now and the Bulls needing someone to pick up the offensive slack.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My goal for this article is to highlight potential paths and some of my favorite options at different tiers. My goal is not to say you should choose one approach over the other, because this format is still so new and worth keeping an open mind about. My personal recommendation is to try the different builds and see what you’re comfortable with. Thanks for reading, and may variance be on your side.