NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 10/25/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Oct 25th, 2017
Harrison Barnes has a tough matchup against James Ennis, who has given him trouble in the past. Who else should you steer clear of for Wednesday's DFS slate?

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.

Harrison Barnes, SF, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Price: $6,100

Harrison Barnes tops the list of fade-able mid-priced small forwards for several reasons, but the main one is his tough matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.

According to our DvP Matchup Chart, the Grizzlies have been the ninth-best team at defending small forwards so far this season, allowing just 0.72 FanDuel points per minute to the position.

The James Ennis factor also plays into this fade. Ennis and Barnes have met five times in their careers, and the last three have been with Barnes on the Dallas Mavericks. In those three games, Barnes is shooting just 15-for-42 (35.7%) from the floor, not much better than the 34.9% shooting clip he has overall this season.

Josh Richardson, SF, Miami Heat

FanDuel Price: $6,300

Josh Richardson put on a show Monday night for the Miami Heat, dropping 21 points and 35.8 FanDuel points in a win over the Atlanta Hawks. However, Atlanta is going to be one of the worst teams in the league this season on both ends of the court, and tonight the San Antonio Spurs present a much greater challenge for Richardson and the Heat.

Coming off that big game, Richardson's ownership might see a boost too, even with the hefty slate of games. Combine that with having to go against the Spurs D, and you have a train you'll want to jump off of before tonight.

The Spurs currently rank second-best in the league so far in defending small forwards, allowing just 0.59 FanDuel points per minute to the position early in the year. Considering they are doing this without Kawhi Leonard is even more impressive, so Richardson is likely due for some regression on Wednesday.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Price: $5,600

While unconfirmed, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is expected to make his season debut on Wednesday after missing the first three games of the season away from the team following the death of his grandmother. However, along with a tough matchup against the Denver Nuggets, Kidd-Gilchrist is not expected to see enough minutes to warrant rostering in DFS.

According to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Kidd-Gilchrist is only expected to play about seven minutes per half, or 14 total minutes on Wednesday. He is probably not in the best shape after being away from the team for a couple of weeks, so while Kidd-Gilchrist will be a solid DFS option once he is back playing full minutes, he should be avoided tonight.

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Jordan Sharp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jordan Sharp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TEHSHARP. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.