NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/16/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Mar 16th, 2017
Marc Gasol is playing for the second time in two nights and has to face Dwight Howard, making him a player to avoid.

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.

Marc Gasol, C, Memphis Grizzlies

FanDuel Price: $7,700

There isn't much worse than a back-to-back late in the season. For Marc Gasol, who played 37 minutes last night against the Chicago Bulls, it might be a value-killer in DFS, especially against Dwight Howard tonight.

Gasol has had trouble with Howard in the past. These two have yet to play one another with Howard as a member of the Atlanta Hawks this year because Howard sat out their game last Saturday, but Gasol still struggled that night. Now, he has to go against Howard, and he is the one playing on no rest.

The Hawks are holding opposing centers to 0.89 FanDuel points per minute this season, and considering the game is in Atlanta, expect to see Gasol struggling slightly in this one.

Serge Ibaka, PF, Toronto Raptors

FanDuel Price: $6,000

There might be some fantasy appeal in a Serge Ibaka revenge game tonight, but since the Oklahoma City Thunder inserted Taj Gibson into the starting lineup, their defense against opposing power forwards has been pretty good.

According to our defense-versus-position matchup chart, the Thunder are holding opposing power forwards to 0.83 FanDuel points per minute this season. Plus, according to RotoGrinders, over the last week with Gibson as the starter, the Thunder have allowed opposing power forwards just 0.75 FanDuel points per minute.

While Ibaka may have some extra motivation tonight going against his old team, he has never held a ton of upside against Gibson in the past. It might be best to avoid this situation altogether with Ibaka's ownership potentially up because of the revenge game factor.

Aaron Gordon, PF, Orlando Magic

FanDuel Price: $5,600

Aaron Gordon has been scoring the ball very well over his last five games, but with the increase in scoring has come a dip in some of his counting statistics. For instance, he has no more than five rebounds in a game since March 5, limiting his single-game upside.

Tonight, the Orlando Magic hold the tough task of containing the Golden State Warriors, and Gordon will have to be the primary defender on Draymond Green all evening. That may not only hurt his offense, but it also may make him a landmine in NBA DFS tonight.

Green is limiting players he defends to just 40.3% shooting overall and 31.0% shooting from downtown. Green holds the second best rating in ESPN's Real Defensive Plus-Minus, making Gordon a player to avoid.