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 takes only one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference between winning and losing your contests. Which players should we avoid tonight?
Carmelo Anthony, PF, Oklahoma City Thunder
FanDuel Price: $6,100
Carmelo Anthony has a tough assignment on Friday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder are squaring off against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks are holding power forwards to 0.80 FanDuel points per minute this season, which is best rate in the league. Antetokounmpo, who should spend some time on Anthony, is limiting players he defends to just 41.2% shooting from the floor and 34.4% shooting from downtown, making Anthony a tough player to target on Friday.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Charlotte Hornets
FanDuel Price: $5,000
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has one of the toughest assignments of any player Friday night against Kevin Durant, and on both sides of the ball, it hurts Kidd-Gilchrist's potential to be a good fantasy play.
On one side, MKG is going to have to guard Durant, and on the other, Durant is probably going to be guarding him. The Golden State Warriors are holding small forwards to just 0.78 FanDuel points per minute, and in six career meetings, Kidd-Gilchrist averaged 6.7 points and 4.5 rebounds on 36.0% shooting against Durant.
Allen Crabbe, SF, Brooklyn Nets
FanDuel Price: $4,800
The Brooklyn Nets are tied for the lowest implied total of the night at 100.0 against the Miami Heat, and while the Nets should have some nice fantasy values on Friday, Allen Crabbe is likely not one of them.
The Heat are holding opposing small forwards to just 0.77 FanDuel points per minute, and with Crabbe shooting just 36.4% from the floor in the month of December, it's not the night to take a chance on him.
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.