5 best value centers for daily DraftKings and FanDuel fantasy basketball for October 21st | 2021-22 NBA season
Centers always tend to hold significant value in NBA fantasy basketball because of their stat-heavy nights with both rebounds and points. A night with a minimal amount of total games makes drafting centers that much more difficult. Many underresearched fantasy basketball players will then favor bigger names,
With larger names comes larger salaries, but not always greater value at the end of the day. Here are all three games on October 21st, 2021 and their listed start times:
- Dallas Mavericks (0-0) at Atlanta Hawks (0-0) | 7:30 PM EST
- Milwaukee Bucks (1-0) at Miami Heat (0-0) | 8:00 PM EST
- Los Angeles Clippers (0-0) at Golden State Warriors (1-0) | 10 PM EST
The Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks matchups stand out to me for fantasy basketball since those are two teams with stellar offensive resumes, but subpar defenses. Expect a scoring battle there to end with many notable fantasy basketball stars and a high point total.
The only centers mentioned in injury reports are Onyeka Okongwu, who is day-to-day, and Serge Ibaka, who is confirmed out for opening night.
Here are the five centers I consider to be value deals for fantasy basketball on October 21st, 2021.
#5 Dewayne Dedmon
Estimated salary: $3,700
The fifth center on this list was never going to be a flashy name, as there are so many options available for fantasy basketball players on a night with three total games.
Dewayne Dedmon gets a mention because he is one of the few players who is guaranteed playing time at this salary level, even if it won't be much behind Bam Adebayo. I hesitate to consider Miami's starting big since he is matched up against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.
Dedmon's ability to space the floor with the three-ball could prove useful in opening up the paint for Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler.
I don't love the idea of picking Dedmon in daily fantasy basketball today. But if you find yourself with minimal salary remaining and in need of a center then you could consider him.
#4 John Collins
Estimated salary: $6,400 - $6,800
The only reason I don't have John Collins significantly higher on this list is because he is one of the 15 highest salaried players in tonight's fantasy basketball slate.
It's not hard to imagine Collins notably outperforming his current estimated salary against a struggling defense like the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe Dallas's interior defenders Kristaps Pozingis, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell will outperform my expectations. However, Trae Young will still manage to pass Collins open on the perimeter.
Listing Collins as a center feels weird since he rarely plays that position in the NBA. Both DraftKings and FanDuel allow the 6'9" big to fill that slot on daily fantasy basketball rosters.
It's hard to overlook a potential 20/10 contributor going up against one of the lower level defenses in the NBA.