3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/2/16
In daily fantasy basketball, finding players you want to roster is a lot easier than finding players to avoid.
You can find a ton of great information and research on guys you might want to include tonight in your DFS NBA lineups, but what about some guys you may want to lessen your exposure to, or even fade altogether?
Avoiding players whose matchups or situations aren't as great as they seem can often be just as important as finding the best targets each night. After all, it takes only one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.
John Wall, PG, Washington Wizards
FanDuel Price: $8,700
John Wall is off to a nice start this season, but he has also played two teams that get carved up by opposing point guards. Now, Wall is welcoming in the Toronto Raptors, who currently rank 10th in FanDuel points allowed to opposing point guards, and last season, they finished second in that department with an average of only 0.81 FanDuel points allowed per minute to opposing point guards.
Kyle Lowry's mission tonight will be to slow down Wall. DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas have been scoring the ball well to start the season, which may allow Lowry to spend more energy on the defensive end. The Raptors currently have the league's eighth-best defensive rating (101.5), and they are also playing the 25th-fastest pace at 94.2 possessions per 48 minutes.
All of this adds up for a bad matchup for Wall, who is still averaging a solid 38 FanDuel points per game in his 19 regular season games against Lowry during his career. However, Wall has also turned the ball over 10 times in his first two games, and in his last five meetings with Lowry, he has turned the ball over a combined 22 times.
DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers
FanDuel Price: $7,500
DeAndre Jordan might be a popular play tonight due to the uptempo game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, despite the fast-paced game and Jordan's recent 40-FanDuel-point performance against the Phoenix Suns, the Thunder are a different beast when it comes to defending centers -- and Steven Adams has a lot to do with it.
Adams is holding players he defends to only 43.6% shooting from the floor so far this season, and last year it was 42.0% shooting from the floor. This season, Adams and the Thunder are limiting opposing centers to only 0.68 FanDuel points per minute. That is partially because they have yet to play a center as good as Jordan this year, but last year, they ranked fourth in FanDuel points allowed to centers, allowing just under 0.9 fantasy points per minutes.
Jordan and Adams have had several entertaining battles in the past. While Jordan has performed well in some of them, one of his near 20-20 efforts against the Thunder came without Blake Griffin on the court and the other was when Adams got into foul trouble. Jordan is averaging just under 31 FanDuel points per game in his last seven meetings with Adams, so at a price tag of $7,500, the upside is not there tonight for DJ.
Julius Randle, PF, Los Angeles Lakers
FanDuel Price: $6,200
Speaking of tough matchups, Julius Randle has to do battle with a strong defensive frontcourt in Atlanta, and even without Timofey Mozgov in the lineup, Randle is a risky play.
The Atlanta Hawks are back to playing defense like they did two seasons ago. With a healthy Dwight Howard manning the middle, the Hawks currently rank 1st in the league in defensive efficiency with 89.5 points allowed per 100 possessions. The Hawks have benefitted from a soft opening schedule, but their defense is no fluke.
Atlanta is allowing only 0.74 FanDuel points per minute to power forwards this season. With Paul Millsap defending the young Lakers' big man tonight, Randle's upside goes out the window. Plus, Randle played just 20 minutes in the Lakers' last game, so there are a lot of red flags here tonight.
