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: $6,800
Harrison Barnes' price tag on Friday night is still appealing, but his matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks makes all those warm and fuzzy feelings go away.
Barnes is not only going to have to guard either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Khris Middleton, but he will also be defended by one of those guys. It looks like he's due for a rough night on both ends of the floor.
The Bucks are holding small forwards to just 0.75 FanDuel points per minute, and our models currently project Barnes for fewer than 30 FanDuel points.
Robin Lopez, C, Chicago Bulls
FanDuel Price: $5,200
Robin Lopez has been playing really well lately, reaching double figures with regard to points scored in each of his last six games. He is also coming off a stretch of four straight games with at least 14 points and 5 rebounds, but that run of production may come to an end against Dwight Howard and the Charlotte Hornets.
The Chicago Bulls' center has not been great against Howard in the past. In their 19 career meetings, Lopez is averaging just 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds over just 25.1 minutes, and in his last six games against Howard, Lopez has put up just 14.9 FanDuel points per game.
The Hornets have been pretty good at limiting the fantasy production of centers this season because of Howard, holding opposing big men to 1.0 fantasy point per minute.
Tony Parker, PG, San Antonio Spurs
FanDuel Price: $3,500
Tony Parker has some appeal coming off a near double-double in just 20 minutes of action. He could see his minutes go up again tonight, but it may not matter against Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics.
Boston has been very good against point guards, limiting them to just 0.8 FanDuel points per minute. Considering the San Antonio Spurs might have trouble slowing down Irving, Parker could see his minutes limited even more because of the need to play a better defender. That and the tough matchup defensively make Parker tough to target despite the attractive price point.
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.