FanDuel daily picks: Fantasy basketball lineup – December 30, 2017

High Salary PG

Steph Curry, GS vs MEM ($9,700): Curry is schedule to make his return on Saturday, although that can obviously change in an instant. Assuming he plays, it’s likely that his minutes will be monitored as the Warriors don’t want to risk long-term damage to their star. He needs 41.7 fantasy points to hit value on Saturday. He puts up points faster than anyone in the league, but if he’s limited to less than 25 minutes, he’ll have a hard time hitting that value. Because of that, I have to consider him a high risk-high reward player. **

Damian Lillard, POR at ATL ($8,700): Lillard ended up being a late scratch on Thursday when all signs pointed to him playing. We may not know the status of Lillard until just before tip-off on Saturday. Assuming he plays, his minutes might be monitored as the Blazers don’t want to risk anything and Shabazz Napier has filled in admirably with Lillard out. He needs 37.4 fantasy points to his value. Like Curry, due to the uncertain nature of his minutes, it’s tough to consider him anything more that a high risk-high reward player. **

Elfrid Payton, ORL vs MIA ($7,600): Payton has been at value or better in four of his last five. In the one game he missed value, he missed by just .6 fantasy points. His recent stretch is a good sign given that he’s been at value in just 41 percent of games this season. He had 38.6 fantasy points against the Heat on Tuesday. He’s proven he can take on a bigger role rebounding, which is a good sign given that Nikola Vucevic will miss extended time. I’m still not really high on Payton but believe he’ll be at value on Saturday. ***