3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/15/19
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?
Brook Lopez, C, Milwaukee Bucks
FanDuel Price: $6,200
Brook Lopez has been a solid fantasy option over his last four games, but with a daunting matchup against the Miami Heat frontcourt on Friday, he is poised to disappoint in DFS.
Since the All-Star break, the Heat have been dominating on the glass, limiting opponents to a league-low 39.2 boards per game while posting a top-three offensive rebound percentage (30.2%) and top-seven overall rebound percentage (51.6%). Miami’s opponents are blocking only 4.2 shots per game over the last 11 contests as well, a bottom-10 average in the league. All those factors combined have left opposing centers to post just 1.03 FanDuel points per minute, the lowest rate in the Association this season.
That tough defense up front will likely cause fits for Lopez, much like it did in the two teams' previous meetings this season. The Milwaukee Bucks' center has averaged only 26.5 FanDuel points against Miami this year, as he's posted an average line of 10.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game.
Damyean Dotson, SG, New York Knicks
FanDuel Price: $5,800
The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs matchup on Friday is expected to be the lowest-scoring affair of the night with a 215.5 over/under. With the Spurs hefty favorites (13.5), that leaves the Knicks likely grasping for points with a slate-low implied total of 101.0 points. That falls right in line with the way New York’s offense has been playing recently.
Since the All-Star Break, they rank 28th with a 1053 offensive rating while scoring just 105.5 points per game. Even as Damyean Dotson emerges as one of the better scoring options for the Knicks, his inconsistency leaves a lot to be desired. Dotson has had his fair share of two plus scoring games since the break, and he has just as many in single digits (three) while dropping 15 or fewer in half of the games (5 of 10).
Facing a Spurs squad who ranks third in opponents field goal percentage since the break, Dotson appears to be in line for one of those off nights. San Antonio allows only 0.84 FanDuel points per minute to shooting guards, the eighth-lowest rate in the league this season.
Tyler Johnson, PG, Phoenix Suns
FanDuel Price: $5,200
Phoenix Suns point guard Tyler Johnson is listed as questionable to play on Friday with a sore knee. All signs are pointing towards Johnson suiting up, but even if he does, he is in for a long night versus Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets.
Behind the defense of CP3, Houston limits opposing point guards to 0.88 FanDuel points per minute, the fourth lowest rate in the NBA and lowest on tonight’s eight-game slate. Since the All-Star break, the Rockets have been one of the best defenses in the NBA, ranking second in points allowed per game (105.5), fourth in opponents’ turnovers (15.7), and eighth in defensive rating (107.2).
The matchup also leaves the Suns with one of the lowest implied point totals of the day (106.0) and as one of the biggest underdogs (+13.0). Dealing with an unfavorable matchup and a troublesome knee, Johnson is not the value guard you are looking for on Friday.
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.
