NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 2/1/18

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Feb 1st, 2018
Taj Gibson potentially has a tough individual matchup against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Which other players should you avoid for Thursday's NBA DFS contests?

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?

John Henson, PF, Milwaukee Bucks

FanDuel Price: $5,500

Even though John Henson has been playing mostly center this season, FanDuel has left him as a power forward for months now. He is up against Karl-Anthony Towns in a tough matchup, and while he's found recent success against Towns, Henson has also started to struggle on the road lately.

Over his last five road games, Henson is averaging just 21.6 FanDuel points over 26.2 minutes per game. That's a steep dip from his yearly average of about 0.94 FanDuel points per minute. With the Bucks owning a low 103.5 implied total, it might be best to avoid Henson in this situation.

Taj Gibson, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves

FanDuel Price: $5,400

Taj Gibson has been a strong interior presence for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, but his matchup on Thursday against the Bucks is not one to take lightly. While he likely won't be playing much defense against Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is a chance Antetokounmpo could spend some time guarding Gibson.

So far this season, the Bucks are holding power forwards to 0.83 FanDuel points per minute, which is best in the league based on our DvP Matchup Chart. With Antetokounmpo limiting players he defends to just 41.4% shooting overall and 52.6% inside of 10 feet, Gibson doesn't have a ton of upside at his current price tag.

Andrew Harrison, SG, Memphis Grizzlies

FanDuel Price: $4,700

With the absence of Tyreke Evans due to ongoing trade negotiations, Andrew Harrison was a popular DFS option Wednesday night for the Memphis Grizzlies playing with a short bench. However, it was Wayne Selden Jr. who ended up being the better play, and now on no rest, none of the Grizzlies are looking that appealing Thursday.

Memphis only has a 97.5-point implied total, which is the lowest of all the teams in action according to our Matchup Heat Map. Furthermore, the Detroit Pistons haven't been bad this season against point guards, holding them to 0.87 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.