NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 1/25/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jan 25th, 2017
Julius Randle has a tough assignment against Al-Farouq Aminu tonight. Who else should you stay away from for Wednesday's NBA DFS contests?

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.

Julius Randle, PF, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $6,500

Julius Randle is still rather inconsistent in his young age, but the Los Angeles Lakers power forward has shown flashes of elite upside. His predraft comparison to a more athletic Zach Randolph is very much valid, but he'll be facing one of the NBA's more underrated defenders in Al-Farouq Aminu on Wednesday.

Aminu currently ranks 13th overall in ESPN's defensive real plus/minus (DRPM) and is holding players he defends to just 38.8% shooting, which includes 48.3% from within 10 feet.

In five career head-to-head matchups, Randle only has one career double-double, along with just 28.7 FanDuel points per game in their last four meetings. With a salary of $6,500, we need more than that from him tonight.

Marvin Williams, PF, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Price: $5,000

It's "fade power forwards day" here at numberFire, and the next one is Marvin Williams. If Randle has a tough matchup, Williams might have the toughest of any power forward on the slate in facing Draymond Green.

Green is starting to make his case for Defensive Player of the Year, ranking fourth overall in DRPM while holding opposing players to just 41.4% shooting. He gets even tougher up close, with players only finding the bottom of the net 49.2% of the time from within six feet.

Williams' recent history against Green hasn't gone well, either -- he's averaging just 12.7 FanDuel points per game in his last four.

Taj Gibson, PF, Chicago Bulls

FanDuel Price: $4,700

Our final power forward to avoid is Taj Gibson, who has to square off against a strong defender in Paul Millsap.

Gibson has already been in a slump, averaging less than 0.6 FanDuel points per minute over his last three games. With a matchup against Millsap on the horizon, that's not likely to improve. He's a big reason why the Atlanta Hawks are holding power forwards to just 0.86 FanDuel points per minute this season.

With the Chicago Bulls also coming off a back-to-back, you're better off avoiding Gibson's tough matchup.