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 in your DFS NBA lineups, but what about 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. After all, it only takes one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.
Avery Bradley, SG, Boston Celtics
FanDuel Price: $6,900
With Isaiah Thomas back in the Boston Celtics' lineup, Avery Bradley can go back to doing what he does best: play defense. He is still knocking down three-pointers and swiping a steal or two per game, but his usage and fantasy production go down pretty noticably when Thomas is healthy.
According to NBA Wowy, when Thomas is off the court, Bradley's usage jumps to 25.2%. However, with both starting guards in the lineup, Bradley's usage is only 18.7%. Plus, Bradley's FanDuel points per minute go from 0.96 to 0.87 when Thomas is on the court, according to RotoGrinders' Court IQ.
That all doesn't even take into account Bradley's inflated price from Thomas' absence or his brutal matchup against Tony Allen and the Memphis Grizzlies tonight. The Grizzlies are holding opposing shooting guards to just 0.76 FanDuel points per minute, and with Allen's defended field goal percentage sitting at just 40.2% shooting, Bradley could be really limited in tonight's matchup.
Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors
FanDuel Price: $6,200
Klay Thompson is another shooting guard in danger of becoming a landmine tonight. When playing the Utah Jazz, it's hard to find a lot of fantasy value against a team averaging just 91.0 possessions per game. Even though the sample size is small, so far this season it's been Thompson who loses out against the slower paced teams.
In Golden State's three games against the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks, the three slowest paced teams in the league, Thompson is averaging just 17.9 FanDuel points per game.
Plus, there is the issue of pretty strong wing defense. Rodney Hood is holding players he defends to just 44.1% shooting from the floor, and he didn't even play in the first meeting this season. In three career games against one another, Thompson is averaging just 27.1 FanDuel points per game against Hood.
Jeremy Lin, PG, Brooklyn Nets
FanDuel Price: $6,500
Before the Brooklyn Nets' game against the Philadelphia 76ers two nights ago, a report came out that Jeremy Lin could see a minutes boost. He played 22 minutes instead of 20.
Still, Lin is performing well, averaging 1.24 FanDuel points per minute since his return from a hamstring injury. However, if we can't count on him for at least 25 to 30 minutes, it's hard to trust him to score 30-plus FanDuel points.
It's still entirely possible he sees another minutes boost tonight and is an excellent tournament play, but his matchup against the Toronto Raptors is not the greatest. Toronto is allowing only 0.88 FanDuel points per minute to point guards this season, so combined with the minutes restriction, you can't trust Lin as a DFS option tonight.