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.
Kawhi Leonard, SF, San Antonio Spurs
FanDuel Price: $8,500
Kawhi Leonard doesn't have an exceptionally tough matchup tonight against the Miami Heat, but there are several factors working against his fantasy value on Monday's eight-game slate. The matchup against Justise Winslow won't be too bad, but the two biggest things making Leonard a potential landmine tonight is the spread for this game and the pace.
Right now the San Antonio Spurs are 12-point favorites in this game at home, the second biggest spread of the day. This is because Goran Dragic has already been ruled out for this one. With the Heat offense already looking questionable, being without Dragic tonight might be enough to ensure the Spurs will have a hefty lead by the fourth quarter.
Even if they don't, the Heat play at such a slow pace that this isn't the best game for Leonard anyway. He is already coming off two substandard fantasy outings in much better matchups, and with the blowout factor added in tonight, it is a day to lay off Leonard. The Heat are allowing only 0.68 FanDuel points per minute to small forward this season as well.
Harrison Barnes, SF, Dallas Mavericks
FanDuel Price: $6,000
Harrison Barnes has proved a lot of doubters of his offensive upside wrong over the last few games, but with the Dallas Mavericks getting healthier, there is a chance that Barnes has temporarily seen the end to his upside for DFS purposes. Dirk Nowitzki might make his return to the court tonight, as should the rest of the Mavs who rested last week -- outside of Deron Williams. Nowitzki made it through morning shootaround, so even though he is a game-time decision, it looks like he will play and cut into Barnes' recent uptick in usage.
With the other four Mavericks starters and Jose Juan Barea out of the game this season, Barnes has a usage rate of 33.5% according to NBAWowy. If all the Mavericks are back tonight, Barnes is not going to be attempting 20-plus shots like he has enjoyed over his last three games.
Even though the New York Knicks have the league's worst defensive rating of 112.6 points allowed per 100 possessions, Barnes' usage might not be enough to get him to 30-plus FanDuel points tonight with the extra bodies in play.
Trevor Booker, PF, Brooklyn Nets
FanDuel Price: $5,600
Trevor Booker has been one of the most surprising players in the NBA to start the season, as he has collected three double-doubles and four 30-plus FanDuel point games already this year. For a guy who is still priced below $6,000 on FanDuel, that can be pretty attractive on tonight's slate.
However, the Brooklyn Nets have a lot of blowout potential tonight as well, and they also have one of the toughest matchups in the NBA against the league's best team so far, the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers allow only 94.7 points per 100 possessions this season, and their interior defense has been a big reason for this.
We all know about DeAndre Jordan's strong interior presence, but Blake Griffin hasn't been bad in that department either so far this season. Players that Griffin is defending are averaging only 41.2% shooting from the floor and 43.2% shooting from inside the arc. With the blowout potential and the tough matchup, Booker may not have that 30-point ceiling tonight like he has enjoyed at other times this season.