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.
Kristaps Porzingis, PF, New York Knicks
FanDuel Price: $7,500
The legend of Kristaps Porzingis just keeps growing with every passing game, but the New York Knicks young power forward has literally his toughest assignment of the season tonight, as he will almost certainly be asked to try and slow down Anthony Davis.
I'm sure the Knicks will try and keep Porzingis from guarding him the entire game, but think about it: who else do the Knicks have that can slow down Davis? Joakim Noah is going to get his chances, but unless he invents time travel and brings in 2013 Noah, I doubt he has much success, either.
That leaves Porzingis to do the dirt work. These two phenom big men have played each other only once, but Porzingis did not fare well, posting only 10 points and 4 rebounds in a foul-plagued 23 minutes.
I also expect Davis to be guarding Porzingis when he is on the floor. With Davis holding players he defends to just 40.8% shooting from the floor, 29.4% shooting from three, and 48.3% within 10 feet, Porzingis may be in for a rough night if he has to check Davis the majority of the time.
Robert Covington, SF, Philadelphia 76ers
FanDuel Price: $5,200
Robert Covington has been really hit or miss this season, making him a fine tournament play on most nights. However, the Sixers' swingman has scored fewer than 19 FanDuel points over his last two games, and tonight he has a tough back to back set against the Denver Nuggets.
Denver is not a great defensive team, but Danilo Gallinari has started to show some shred of defense lately. He's holding players he defends to just 41.1% shooting from the floor and 31.8% shooting from three-point land.
This has helped the Nuggets hold opposing small forwards to 0.73 FanDuel points per minute this season, ranking them fourth best in the league. While Covington is still in play for tournaments, he is far from a safe play tonight.
Kent Bazemore, SF, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $4,000
Kent Bazemore has shifted to more of a shooting guard lately, but it hasn't necessarily helped his fantasy production. He has three straight games of 15.4 FanDuel points or fewer, and his matchup against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tonight is not going to help.
Caldwell-Pope is turning into a nice two-way threat for the Detroit Pistons. He is holding players he defends to just 43.5% shooting from the floor and 32.1% shooting from deep.
His defense has helped the Pistons hold opposing shooting guards to 0.74 FanDuel points per minute. With Bazemore struggling lately, I would lay off him despite the cheap price.