3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 10/18/18
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?
Lonzo Ball, PG, Los Angeles Lakers
FanDuel Price: $6,600
It comes down to minutes, and following offseason knee surgery, Lonzo Ball is expected to come off the bench in the Los Angeles Lakers' season opener and split the point guard minutes with Rajon Rondo. After averaging less than one FanDuel point per minute last season, Ball would need to see well over 30 minutes on Thursday to reach value against the Portland Trail Blazers. That is not going to happen. Even if he surprises and sees the lion's share of minutes at the point, the matchup against the underrated defense of Damian Lillard should scare you off.
Dame allowed opponents to shoot just 41.5% from the floor last season, 2.5 percentage points under expectations. For his part, shooting has never been Ball's strong suit as he shot 36.0% from the floor last season, but the Blazers are stingy with the dimes too as opponents dished out only 20.2 assists per game last year, the second-lowest mark in the league.
Jabari Parker, PF, Chicago Bulls
FanDuel Price: $6,200
To say Jabari Parker had a lousy preseason would be an understatement. He entered training camp as the favorite to start at small forward for the Chicago Bulls, but after shooting 33.3% on 12.0 attempts per game, he won't even be in the starting lineup with Lauri Markkanen out of commission.
Being relegated to a bench role is something Parker is not comfortable with and may take some time for him to find his rhythm. The Bulls don't have an easy matchup, either, as they carry the second-lowest implied point total of Thursday's slate (103.75) against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers ranked third in defensive rating (103.8) and first in field goal percentage (43.4%) allowed in 2017-18. In their first game this season, the defense played well against the Boston Celtics (100.0 defensive rating). Playing with the second-unit and facing one of the stingier defenses in the NBA has Parker set up to bust on Thursday night.
Kelly Olynyk, PF, Miami Heat
FanDuel Price: $6,100
With James Johnson out of action on Wednesday, Kelly Olynyk was expected to see heavy minutes against the Orlando Magic. Instead, the power forward was on the court for just 15 minutes, collecting 4 points, 1 rebound, and 4.2 FanDuel points. The Miami Heat were playing the matchups, going small with Rodney McGruder starting. Facing the bigger frontcourt of the Washington Wizards on Thursday, common sense would think Olynyk would play a more prominent role, but we can't bank on that.
On Wednesday, Bam Adebayo outperformed (8 points, 9 rebounds) and outplayed (22 minutes) Olynyk and could have earned himself a more significant role against the Wiz. For what it is worth, Olynyk struggled in his time on the floor against Washington power forward Markieff Morris last season. He shot just 16.7% from the field with Morris defending him.
Add in the Heat carrying the lowest implied point total of the three games on Thursday, and even on a small slate you can find players who carry much less risk than Olynyk.
Dale Redman is not a FanDuel employee. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
