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.
Dennis Schroder, PG, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $7,100
Dennis Schroder is coming off a huge 42.9 FanDuel point effort against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, but tonight against the San Antonio Spurs may not be as kind to Schroder's fantasy value.
Schroder has not shot the ball well on the road this season. He owns a 42.3% shooting clip away from Atlanta this season, compared to 49.5% at home. He has also not posted more than 22.9 FanDuel points over his last two road games.
Tonight in San Antonio may compound those struggles. The Spurs' defense is holding opposing point guards to 0.75 FanDuel points per minute, and considering their pace of 95.3 possessions per game is one of the slowest marks in the league, Schroder is not a player to target.
T.J. McConnell, PG, Philadelphia 76ers
FanDuel Price: $4,700
T.J. McConnell has been playing well off the bench for the Philadelphia 76ers this season, but the return of Jerryd Bayless on Monday throws some uncertainty into McConnell's minutes.
Even though Bayless could be limited coming off missing three games, McConnell also has a very tough matchup when he does get into the game against the Utah Jazz.
So far this season the Jazz are holding point guards to 0.79 FanDuel points per minute, and with his minutes potentially in flux, it might be best to avoid McConnell.
Chandler Parsons, SF, Memphis Grizzlies
FanDuel Price: $4,200
Chandler Parsons recent uptick in minutes and appealing price tag might make him look like a good play, but he and the Memphis Grizzlies are up against the Portland Trail Blazers, who have been surprisingly good on defense so far this season.
The Blazers have a defensive rating of 100.9, which currently ranks second-best in the league, and their slower pace of 96 possessions per game makes Memphis a tough team to target in DFS.
Furthermore, Parsons' matchup against Maurice Harkless is not an easy one. Harkless is holding players he defends to just 37.2% shooting from the floor, and that has helped Portland limit small forwards to just 0.76 FanDuel points per minute.
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.