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?
De'Aaron Fox, PG, Sacramento Kings
FanDuel Price: $5,700
De'Aaron Fox is coming off another lower-scoring fantasy night on Monday, and he draws a tough matchup tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers. Not only that, but the Sacramento Kings are playing on no rest, and it is their third game in four nights.
As for the Blazers' defense, Portland is holding opposing point guards to 0.85 FanDuel points per minute this season, which ranks third best in our defense-versus-position matchup chart. Even though Fox did have a big game versus the Blazers this season, he put up 22.4 and 21.4 FanDuel points in his first two games against Portland in November. On the road in a tough matchup with no rest makes Fox a risky investment.
Robert Covington, SF, Philadelphia 76ers
FanDuel Price: $5,000
Robert Covington is in an epic shooting slump in the month of February. He is shooting just 35.9% from the floor and 29.7% shooting from three-point range. On top of that. he has one of the tougher matchups among wing players on Tuesday as he faces the Miami Heat.
Miami is holding small forwards to 0.76 FanDuel points per minute this season, and Covington already has two pretty poor games against Miami this month, games in which he up less than 18 FanDuel points in each outing. Considering Covington is just 11 for 39 from the floor in his last four games, lay off him tonight against the Heat, especially in cash games.
Kyle Korver, SG, Cleveland Cavaliers
FanDuel Price: $3,500
Kyle Korver has started seeing more consistent minutes after the trade deadline, but because of the newfound guard depth for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Korver's overall playing time has still been tapered. On top of that, the Brooklyn Nets have been pretty solid against shooting guards this season, limiting them to 0.78 FanDuel points per minute.
With that in mind, Korver is likely an avoid candidate on Tuesday. The Cavaliers are nearly 11.0-point favorites at home against a Nets team on the second leg of a back-to-back. If the game turns into a blowout, Korver could be benched in favor of the Cavs' younger and newer options so those players can get some minutes in the new system. Unless the Cavs are dealing with an injury to one of their guards or wings, Korver is not in fantasy consideration right now.
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.