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?
E'Twaun Moore, SF, New Orleans Pelicans
FanDuel Price: $5,300
The Oklahoma City Thunder are hosting the New Orleans Pelicans Friday after losing a tough one on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, but the Thunder defense is still going to present some problems. E'Twaun Moore could see the brunt of it, too.
The Thunder are holding small forwards to 0.76 FanDuel points per minute this season, and a big reason for their success has been the play of Paul George. If George is serving as the primary defender on Moore, it's likely going to hurt his chances of putting up big scoring numbers. Moore is averaging just 16.7 FanDuel points per game over his last three meetings against George.
Courtney Lee, SG, New York Knicks
FanDuel Price: $4,700
Since the return of Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee has seen a slight dip in his production. He's scored fewer than 20 FanDuel points in two straight games, and there is a chance that unfortunate streak continues Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks are holding shooting guards to 0.78 FanDuel points per minute, which ranks seventh-best according to our DvP Matchup Chart. Considering the New York Knicks only have a 101.5-point implied total, Lee can be avoided.
Taurean Prince, SF, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $4,100
At one point this season, Taurean Prince was seeing minutes in the mid to upper 30's. While he has hit a bit of a wall lately, it's mostly because his playing time has been wildly inconsistent.
Prince has played 25 or fewer minutes in five of his last seven games, and in a matchup against the Boston Celtics, he can be avoided even at his appealing price tag. The Celtics are the second-best team in the league at defending small forwards according to our charts, holding them to 0.75 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.