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.
Kevin Love, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers
FanDuel Price: $8,300
Kevin Love is only 28 years old, so the term "vintage," is hard to use when describing his game. However, if vintage Love means his time putting up monster numbers for the Minnesota Timberwolves, we have seen a lot of the vintage lately.
Love has been playing out of his mind, but the entire Cleveland Cavaliers team became landmines Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavs run into another tough opponent on Friday in the Chicago Bulls. They've climbed to third in defensive rating this season, allowing just 103.5 points per 100 possessions.
Chicago has also done well against power forwards and Taj Gibson is a big reason why. Gibson's agility and size lets him stay with Love both inside and on the perimeter. He's holding players he defends to just 40.0% shooting from the floor, 49.3% shooting from within six feet and 34.6% shooting outside of 15 feet. At his inflated price, Love will have a hard time pushing 40 FanDuel points.
Robert Covington, SF, Philadelphia 76ers
FanDuel Price: $4,500
Robert Covington is another player I have a DFS crush on because he was a member of the Tennessee State Tigers and is an Illinois native. However, all bias aside, he is a landmine as the Philadelphia 76ers battle the Orlando Magic.
The Magic have been improving rapidly on defense and their duo of Jeff Green and Aaron Gordon have done well defensively for them on the wing.
Orlando is holding opposing small forwards to only 0.72 FanDuel points per minute and with Covington coming off a big game, his ownership might increase enough to where you can warrant fading him even at his modest price.
Tim Hardaway Jr., SG, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $3,700
Tim Hardaway Jr. might seem like a viable punt option at shooting guard. He has six games with 20 FanDuel points or more and he is coming off his best outing of the season. However, with the Atlanta Hawks playing the Detroit Pistons, Hardaway will have to deal with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope is rounding into an excellent two-way player, but he does not get as much credit for being a good defender. He is holding players to just 41.8% shooting from the floor and 29.4% from three-point land.
Hardaway is starting to suck away minutes from Kyle Korver, but it won't be enough for him to reach more than a modest amount of points. The Pistons are a pace down game for Atlanta and as a team, they are holding shooting guards to just 0.75 FanDuel points per minute.