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?
Quinn Cook, PG, Golden State Warriors
FanDuel Price: $5,300
With the news that Stephen Curry is set to return on Friday night, it puts a damper on the fantasy appeal of Quinn Cook. While Cook should still play some minutes off the bench, as long as Curry isn't on a minutes restriction, Cook won't see enough playing time to warrant rostering at his current price.
Plus, with Curry likely returning to the starting lineup that means Cook will, in all likelihood, matchup against Isaiah Taylor off the Atlanta Hawks' bench. On the defensive end, Taylor has been impressive in limited minutes this season, holding opposing players to 39.5% shooting from the floor.
Allen Crabbe, SG, Brooklyn Nets
FanDuel Price: $5,000
Like most of the Brooklyn Nets, Allen Crabbe draws a tough assignment on Friday, as he and his squad travel to meet the Toronto Raptors in a game as 12-point underdogs.
The Raptors are holding shooting guards to 0.77 FanDuel points per minute, and Crabbe owns a 38.6% shooting clip on the road this season. Crabbe had 23.7 FanDuel points at home against the Raptors 10 days ago, and tonight our models project Crabbe for just 22.0 FanDuel points -- three below what he needs to reach optimal value.
Justise Winslow, SF, Miami Heat
FanDuel Price: $4,700
Justise Winslow is averaging just 22.3 minutes per game over his last three, and if that continues on Friday he cannot be trusted on such a large slate. There are just too many other (better) options.
Winslow will also likely be defended by Paul George some when he's on the court (and he'll have to return the favor, to make matters worse). As a team, the Oklahoma City Thunder are holding small forwards to 0.80 FanDuel points per minute, and if Winslow only sees 20-to-25 minutes, he's a long-shot to reach value, making him better left off your lineups tonight.
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.