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.
Wesley Johnson, SF, Los Angeles Clippers
FanDuel Price: $5,200
After playing 40 minutes on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings, Wesley Johnson might look like a solid fantasy option tonight. However, Johnson is averaging just 19.1 FanDuel points per game this season, which translates to only 0.78 FanDuel points per minute.
Against a team like the Los Angeles Lakers, that's not an easy road to reaching value at a price tag of $5,200. The Lakers are holding small forwards to just 0.79 FanDuel points per minute, and a big reason for that is Brandon Ingram.
Ingram is keeping players he defends to just 43.1% shooting from the floor and 26.1% shooting from three-point range. Johnson is already not a great per-minute player, and Ingram might make it even worse.
George Hill, PG, Sacramento Kings
FanDuel Price: $5,000
The fall of George Hill has been a rough one to watch to start this season. After you thought his court time were about to amp up, he has played 23 and 21 minutes over his last two games in a frustrating time share with rookie De'Aaron Fox.
Tonight, not only do you have to worry about Hill's lack of playing time, but the matchup against the Golden State Warriors is not a great one.
The Warriors are holding opposing point guards to 0.83 FanDuel points per minute this season, and even though Hill has been playing off the ball some, the Warriors' defense is limiting shooting guards to just 0.81 FanDuel points per minute.
Kyle O'Quinn, C, New York Knicks
FanDuel Price: $4,800
Last time out, Kyle O'Quinn exploded for 20 points, 15 rebounds, and a smooth 50 FanDuel points in just 26 minutes against the Houston Rockets. It was one of the more impressive fantasy performances of the season considering the amount of playing time, but tonight, that might make O'Quinn one of the slate's biggest landmines.
O'Quinn's playing time was tempered Saturday likely because of the five fouls he racked up in those 26 minutes. O'Quinn is notorious for foul trouble, and against a guy like Jusuf Nurkic, that may be a problem.
O'Quinn has collected eight fouls in 49 minutes over his last two games, and through 19 games he's averaging 6.0 fouls per 36 minutes. If he gets two quick ones against Nurkic, that could derail a repeat.
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.