NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/16/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Nov 16th, 2017
Jaylen Brown has to go toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant on Thursday in a tough matchup. Who else should you avoid on Thursday's NBA 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.

Jaylen Brown, SF, Boston Celtics

FanDuel Price: $6,200

Because of the injury to Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics second-year wing Jaylen Brown has been forced to play bigger minutes in the Celtics' quest to win the Eastern Conference.

However, there aren't too many matchups that are tougher on both ends of the court than going against Kevin Durant. While defending Durant will likely take away from Brown's upside, Durant's defense has been spectacular since joining the Golden State Warriors. This makes Brown an even tougher target on Thursday.

Golden State is limiting opposing small forwards to just 0.79 FanDuel points per minute, and Durant is holding players he defends to just 39.4% shooting from the floor. That's double trouble for Brown, so at a somewhat hefty price tag of $6,200, it might be best to avoid Brown on this short slate.

Mike James, PG, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $4,700

Mike James has been slumping over his last two games since being removed from the starting lineup. After averaging 28.8 FanDuel points in seven games prior to the move to the bench, James has been a big landmine recently, playing fewer than 20 minutes twice. If he's coming off the bench again on Thursday, he should be avoided in all formats.

Another reason for this is the Houston Rockets' defense against opposing point guards. Point guards are averaging just 0.84 FanDuel points per minute against Houston, and if James is not in the starting lineup, leave him off yours, as well.

Marquese Chriss, PF, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $4,500

Another member of the Phoenix Suns that you might be better served staying away from is Marquese Chriss, who faces some unique challenges against the Rockets.

Houston is holding power forwards to just 0.82 FanDuel points per minute, which is the league's second-best mark according to our DvP Matchup Chart. Chriss is also still sharing power forward duties with Dragan Bender, which limits his DFS appeal.

Furthermore, if Chriss starts getting foul-happy again, that too could make him a landmine. The second-year player is averaging 5.9 fouls per 36 minutes this year.

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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.