NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 12/11/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Dec 11th, 2017
Austin Rivers has been playing well, but the potential return of Milos Teodosic coupled with a tough matchup against Toronto makes him a scary DFS play tonight.

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.

Austin Rivers, PG, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $6,300

Austin Rivers has been balling lately, averaging 32.7 FanDuel points over his last eight games. However, there are two big roadblocks in his way tonight that could really derail his fantasy value.

The first is the potential return of Milos Teodosic. The 30-year-old rookie is officially questionable for Monday, and even though Teodosic likely won't play huge minutes, his potential return is one that could eat right into Rivers' workload.

But the bigger roadblock for Rivers may be the Toronto Raptors' defense. Toronto is holding opposing point guards to an average of just 0.79 FanDuel points per minute this year, which is tops in the league. If Teodosic plays, it might be best to jump off Rivers tonight.

Dion Waiters, SG, Miami Heat

FanDuel Price: $5,100

Last Wednesday Dion Waiters appeared in this series, and he promptly went for 22 points and 31.7 FanDuel points. However, sandwiched around that game are two in which Waiters scored just 7.2 and 4.7 FanDuel points.

Now that I've included Waiters in this article again, he'll likely explode for 40 fantasy points tonight, but his matchup is a tough one. The Memphis Grizzlies are holding shooting guards to 0.80 FanDuel points per minute this season, and with Waiters struggling with his stroke, it might be best to avoid him until he can get out of this funk.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Price: $4,900

Nicolas Batum has been ruled out for the Charlotte Hornets, so Michael Kidd-Gilchrist might be asked to play big minutes on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

However, even if Kidd-Gilchrist sees an increase in playing time, he might not be able to translate that into FanDuel points. Oklahoma City is holding small forwards to just 0.72 FanDuel points per minute. If Paul George can play -- he's officially questionable -- that makes Kidd-Gilchrist a complete fade tonight despite a potential increase in minutes.


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.