3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/15/17
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.
D'Angelo Russell, PG, Los Angeles Lakers
FanDuel Price: $6,500
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a GOAT-level tanking expedition, and it is probably not going to be good for their DFS value over the rest of the year. Not only have they shut down their two best veterans, but D'Angelo Russell came off the bench two nights ago.
The move is seemingly aimed at making the Lakers even worse to increase their odds of landing a top three pick this summer, but for Russell, coming off the bench hurts his fantasy value enough to where he is a player to avoid tonight.
Not only is his playing time uncertain, the matchup against the Houston Rockets and Patrick Beverley is not good. In three games during his career against Beverley, Russell is shooting just 28.6% from the floor, and he turned the ball over 13 times in those three games. If Russell comes off the bench again, fade him on Wednesday.
Al Horford, C, Boston Celtics
FanDuel Price: $6,000
The last time Al Horford played Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves, he had 20 shot attempts and 42.7 FanDuel points back in November. However, Horford's usage rate has plummeted recently, down to 15.5% over his last 10 games.
Horford can get fantasy points in a lot of different ways, but with his amount of shot attempts falling (he is averaging just 8.8 shot attempts per game in March) and his matchup against Towns not great, it's best to lay off the Boston Celtics' center.
Towns and the Wolves are holding opposing centers to 0.94 FanDuel points per minute, and Towns is limiting players he defends to just 45.3% shooting from the floor. Considering Horford will have to defend Towns at times, too, it's best to lay off Horford tonight.
Marcus Morris, SF, Detroit Pistons
FanDuel Price: $5,900
Marcus Morris and the Detroit Pistons failed to show up last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and tonight they have another tough matchup as they welcome in the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are holding opposing small forwards to just 0.65 FanDuel points per minute, and according to our defense-versus-position matchup chart, that is tops in the league.
Plus, Gordon Hayward is no slouch defensively. He is holding players he defends to just 42.3% shooting from the floor and 33.3% shooting from distance. With the exception of one game when Morris was with the Phoenix Suns, Hayward has dominated Morris. Even with a 34-point and 12-rebound performance once against Hayward, Morris is averaging 37.1% shooting overall against Hayward and just 17.3 FanDuel points per game in his last three meetings against him.
