Griffin Wong dives into Friday’s seven-game NBA featured slate to find three undervalued players to use in your DraftKings lineups.
With less than a month left in the NBA regular season, teams’ eyes are squarely focused either on the playoffs or on the draft lottery. Several of the 14 teams on tonight’s seven-game slate — such as the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers — will start their ramp-up for the portion of the season that really matters.
Some of the top-level stars on contending squads have injury concerns — such as Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell ($8,700), who’s out with groin soreness — so tonight’s slate could be an opportunity for some cheaper options to put up production not commensurate with their minuscule salary. Here are my three favorites with salaries under $5,000:
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PG Chris Paul, San Antonio Spurs vs. Charlotte Hornets, $4,900
Last night, the Spurs’ new acquisition, point guard De’Aaron Fox ($9,000) was deemed to be out for the season with a hand injury, adding to the major injury woes that have dogged San Antonio this season. With Fox now done and Victor Wembanyama having been out since the All-Star break with a blood clot in his shoulder, both pillars of the Spurs’ future are done. Now, the focus turns to developing Stephon Castle ($6,300), who will likely step into the starting lineup in Fox’s absence, and Jeremy Sochan ($4,900). But Castle is too expensive for this values column and Sochan is too inconsistent, so I’ll go with Paul instead, who had been above the $5,000 threshold all season. While Paul hasn’t provided much as a scorer, his playmaking means that he’s recorded at least 24 fantasy points in six of his last seven games.
While the Hornets have had a decent defense on a season-long basis, their weaknesses play right into Paul’s strengths. Since the All-Star break, Charlotte has conceded the ninth-most points and the 11th-most assists per game, and for the season, it has given up the 10th-most fantasy points to opposing point guards. To put it kindly, LaMelo Ball ($9,800) isn’t an elite defender — in fact, he ranks as the 58th-worst among 184 qualified players in Basketball Reference’s defensive box plus-minus metric — and Paul’s veteran savvy should allow him to outmaneuver Ball and dish to his teammates. He’s recorded at least seven assists in all but two of his games since the All-Star break.
PG/SG Kris Dunn, LA Clippers at Atlanta Hawks, $4,400
Dunn has stepped back into the starting lineup after Norman Powell ($7,200) suffered a hamstring injury that he will get re-evaluated today, and while he hasn’t provided much as an offensive player, he’s recorded at least one steal in each of his last 17 games, and he’s averaging 5.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.3 steals (20.0 FPTS) per game over his last six games. He has room to improve offensively — he’s shooting just 42.4% from the field and 18.8% from beyond the arc across that span, below his season and career averages — so he should be a valuable defensive asset at minimum with some offensive upside. In fact, he ranks second in the NBA in defensive box plus-minus this season.
Plus, Atlanta is the ultimate fantasy target, given that it plays at the league’s second-fastest pace and has a below-average defensive rating. Since Jalen Johnson suffered a season-ending injury on January 23, the Hawks have conceded the fifth-most points, ninth-most assists, and, most critically, the sixth-most steals per game, as well as the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards. Trae Young ($10,400), for all of his offensive brilliance, ranks dead last among those 184 qualified players in defensive box plus-minus, and he also leads the league in turnovers per game. In the 21 games since Johnson’s injury, Young has averaged 5.4 turnovers per contest.
PG Ty Jerome, Cleveland Cavaliers at Memphis Grizzlies, $4,800
Jerome is another player who had been a little too expensive prior to recently, but he dropped to $4,800 after scoring fewer than 20 fantasy points in each of his last two outings and resting on Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets. But before that, the 27-year-old had been on an absolute tear, recording double-digit points in 13 of 16 games, and since the start of 2025, Jerome has averaged 14.0 points per game, becoming one of the most valuable bench assets in the NBA. He won’t step into the starting lineup in Mitchell’s absence — that honor, on Tuesday, belonged to Isaac Okoro ($3,700), but Jerome — who stands six-foot-five — has spent 50% of his time at shooting guard and 46% at small forward, according to Basketball Reference’s Player Position Estimate, so he’s a more natural direct replacement for Mitchell, who’s spent 55% of his time at shooting guard and the rest at point guard.
Memphis has had a great defense most of the season, but the sprained ankle that likely Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. ($8,400) suffered has been a major hindrance. Since the All-Star break, the Grizzlies have conceded the sixth-most points, 14th-most rebounds, ninth-most assists, and ninth-most made three-pointers per game, and while Jerome isn’t a particularly well-rounded point guard, he does shoot the ball extremely efficiently. He’s the only player in the league this season who’s appeared in more than 50 games and played at least 15 minutes per game who’s shooting better than 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc, and 90% from the free-throw line.
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