NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/30/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Mar 30th, 2017
Damian Lillard has a tough matchup against Patrick Beverley tonight that may not go very well. Who else should you avoid in Thursday'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.

Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers

FanDuel Price: $9,300

Damian Lillard had been on fire entering the final week of March. However, he's gone just 14-for-39 from the floor in his last two games and may be in for another poor shooting night on Thursday against the Houston Rockets and Patrick Beverley.

Beverley is holding players he defends to just 44.6% shooting (including 33.8% from beyond the arc), and the Rockets are limiting opposing point guards to just 0.86 FanDuel points per minute.

Lillard has also struggled against Beverley in virtually all of their prior 14 regular season head-to-head meetings. If we throw the playoffs out of the picture, the Portland point guard owns just a 38.6% success rate on the floor, and it gets even harder for him to find the bottom of the net in three-point land (31.9%).

Marquese Chriss, PF, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $4,900

Marquese Chriss has been a nice find for the Phoenix Suns this season -- the eighth overall pick in last June's draft, he's averaging 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds over 20.7 minutes per game.

However, even with his expanded playing time, fouls and inconsistency have plagued the talented rookie. Facing the Los Angeles Clippers will not help his outlook on having a big fantasy night, either.

The Clippers are holding opposing power forwards to just 0.86 FanDuel points per minute, making them the toughest matchup of any player on the board tonight according to our DvP Matchup Chart.

Ivica Zubac, C, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $4,400

Even though it's hard to find things to be excited about with the Los Angeles Lakers this season, the play of Ivica Zubac has been a nice surprise for LA. The young center has unfortunately found himself in foul trouble a lot over his last few games, and that could continue tonight with a tough assignment against Karl-Anthony Towns.

Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves are limiting opposing centers to less than a fantasy point per minute this season. Combine that with Zubac averaging nearly 5.3 fouls per 36 minutes in his last four games, and it seems as though it'll be hard for him to hit value tonight.