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.
Derrick Rose, PG, New York Knicks
FanDuel Price: $5,700
Derrick Rose has been playing well since coming over to New York, but his team has not. Making matters worse for the New York Knicks tonight is their back-to-back game against the Washington Wizards. Washington isn't much of a defensive team, but if John Wall is playing tonight -- it's the second night of a back-to-back for him, as well -- it makes Rose a landmine.
Wall has actually been pretty good on defense this season. He is holding players he defends to only 41.8% shooting from the floor and only 31.9% shooting from beyond 15 feet from the basket. The Wizards are allowing a league-low 0.75 FanDuel points per minute to opposing point guards.
There is a chance Wall sits, which would boost Rose some, but Wall only played 24 minutes last night, raising his chances of playing tonight.
Mason Plumlee, C, Portland Trail Blazers
FanDuel Price: $5,100
If he gets the minutes, Mason Plumlee is usually a great DFS option. He has great fantasy per-minute stats, but he's in a tough spot tonight as the Portland Trail Blazers square off with the Houston Rockets.
Plumlee will have to do battle with a resurgent Clint Capela, who has been playing excellent recently. After a slow start to the season, Capela has played three very good games in a row, and he's notched 14 blocks in his last five games.
The Rockets are allowing only 0.87 FanDuel points per minute to opposing centers, which ranks fourth in the league. While Plumlee still might have a pretty good floor as long as he can get the minutes, his upside is limited in this matchup, making him a player to avoid, especially in tournaments.
Eric Gordon, SG, Houston Rockets
FanDuel Price: $5,200
Eric Gordon played a season-high 39 minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder last night, and that's not the only thing working against him tonight.
The biggest hurdle for Gordon -- other than coming off huge minutes as he prepares for the second night of a back-to-back -- is the return of Patrick Beverley. Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said Beverley will start on Thursday, which will directly cut into Gordon's minutes.
Gordon should still get a healthy amount of playing time as it is unlikely the Houston Rockets unleash Beverley for 30-plus minutes in his first game back from knee surgery. However, Gordon hasn't been a great fantasy option this year, averaging just 0.73 FanDuel points per minute. With Beverley coming in tonight, even if he just plays 15 to 20 minutes, most of those are likely all coming from Gordon's minutes, making him a landmine.