3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/8/16
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.
Marc Gasol, C, Memphis Grizzlies
FanDuel Price: $7,100
In what has been the biggest tease so far this young season in NBA DFS, Marc Gasol played 37 and 38 minutes in two straight games last week, seemingly signaling that his minutes limit was lifted and he was good to go as the Memphis Grizzlies' top option. However, that was short lived, as Gasol played only 28 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. Coach David Fizdale confirmed after the game that, just kidding, Gasol is still on a minutes limit right now.
With that in mind, it's very hard to roster Gasol tonight. However, what makes him more of a landmine is the Denver Nuggets' defense against centers. While starting both Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic haven't worked out great on the offensive end, (Denver is -9.1 with both big men on the court this season) the two have slowed down opposing centers for fantasy purposes.
Denver is allowing only 0.73 FanDuel points per minute to opposing centers this season, and Nurkic has been a big reason why. Players are only shooting 41.8% from the floor when defended by Nurkic so far this season, and when you factor in Gasol's minutes limit, he's not a center to target on Tuesday.
Kevin Love, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers
FanDuel Price: $7,300
Kevin Love has been a nice cash game option to start the season, but he has a tough assignment on both ends of the floor tonight with Paul Millsap. Love hasn't been great when going head to head with Millsap since he joined the Cavs. In seven regular season games against one another, the Cavs' power forward is averaging less than 30 FanDuel points per game against Millsap.
The Atlanta Hawks also look great on defense to start the season. Even with their hiccup against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hawks rank 3rd in the league in defensive rating at 96.6 points allowed per 100 possessions. They have also been quite impressive against power forwards this year, allowing only 0.78 FanDuel points per minute to the position, which ranks 7th.
Even though it's a pace up game for the Cavaliers, it's a tough matchup for Love, who will have to work extra hard on both ends of the court tonight.
Emmanuel Mudiay, PG, Denver Nuggets
FanDuel Price: $5,800
Emmanuel Mudiay had his best game of the season on Sunday, dropping 30 points on a shorthanded Boston Celtics team. However, most of that damage came in the first half. He had a couple of nice defensive plays that padded his stat line of 39.6 FanDuel points, but now against the Memphis Grizzlies, who rank 25th in pace at 94.2 this season, Mudiay's recent performance might make him a landmine on Tuesday.
Despite also being on a minutes limit, Mike Conley has come off of his Achilles injury looking great so far. Even though he is a little banged up, if Conley is on the court tonight, Mudiay is a player you'll want to avoid. Even at less than 100%, Conley is holding players he defends to only 39.5% shooting from the floor and a 29.4% clip from beyond the arc so far this year. After his big game, Mudiay might disappoint those looking for a repeat performance.
