3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 2/29/16

Finding players you want to roster is a lot easier than finding players to avoid. Here are three players based on their price and matchups that could be landmines for your rosters tonight.

You can find a ton of great information and research on guys you might want to include in your DFS NBA lineups tonight, but what about some 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 each night. After all, it takes only one player to sink a lineup.

With a nice slate of NBA games on tonight, searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.

Greg Monroe, C, Milwaukee Bucks

FanDuel Price: $7,700

Greg Monroe has been a good signing for the Bucks, but in true Jason Kidd fashion, Monroe’s minutes have been up and down all season, as well as his status inside or outside the starting lineup. Miles Plumlee has been starting for the Bucks over their last few games, and while Monroe still has all the ability in the world to put up a big game from the bench, it may be wise to steer clear of the Moose tonight.

Monroe had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 turnovers against his old team, the Pistons, two nights ago, and while he has had some good games recently, they came against the Hawks and Celtics, two teams that struggle to rebound and defend against big men. In games where he has a tough matchup like tonight, Monroe has struggled. Plus, he has failed to reach 30 minutes in two of his last three games, and he has failed to reach 30 FanDuel points in four of his last six games overall.

While the Rockets and Dwight Howard aren’t the toughest matchup, Howard still ranks just outside the top 15 in the league in Real Defensive Plus-Minus (DRPM) at 3.73. With the Rockets still giving up fewer than one FanDuel point per minute to centers this season, if Monroe can’t get above the 30 minute mark, or if he gets into foul trouble, he may end up falling well below value for his price tonight.

Monta Ellis, SG, Indiana Pacers

FanDuel Price: $6,100

Monta Ellis put up a nice game last night that I was in attendance for, but tonight in Cleveland might be another story. With Iman Shumpert back for the Cavaliers, it gives them one of their best defenders back in the rotation, and while Ellis has beaten up on the Cavs already once this season, that game was before Shumpert had come back earlier in November.

This season, Shumpert and the Cavaliers rank as the sixth best team at defending shooting guards, giving up only 0.71 FanDuel points per minute to opposing two guards. On top of that, in the one game against Cleveland this season where Shumpert was playing, Ellis shot only 5-of-18 from the field and turned the ball over 6 times. That game was the first for the Pacers in February, but this month, Ellis has also been in a big shooting slump, hitting only 39 percent of his shots from the floor.

Ellis has also not fared very well on the second night of back-to-backs this season. If you take away a game on no rest against the Kings, who are the worst shooting guard defense in the league, Ellis is averaging only 21.2 FanDuel points per game in five of his last six games on no rest.

Donald Sloan, PG, Brooklyn Nets

FanDuel Price: $4,800

Donald Sloan has filled in pretty well for the Nets since Jarrett Jack went down for the season, but the Nets and Sloan face another tough test tonight as they head into Los Angeles to play the Clippers. LA ranks fourth and is currently only giving up 0.82 FanDuel points per minute to opposing point guards this season, and while Sloan has had some good games in his game log recently, that just increases his chances of being a landmine tonight by drawing people into what could be a bad game for the Nets’ point guard.

While he may not be the defender he was a few years ago, Chris Paul still ranks inside the top five in DRPM among point guards at 1.11. Plus, while Sloan has beaten bad matchups like, most recently, the Jazz, if you look at his last two games Sloan has attempted 18 free throws, which is far more than his averages as a starter since taking over for Jack.

Sloan is averaging only 3.2 free throw attempts per game this month, and since taking over the starting point guard duties in Brooklyn, he has never had a two-game stretch where he attempted more than 12 free throws. Don’t expect a big game tonight against Paul and the Clippers, who come into this one with the seventh best Defensive Rating of any team this season at 103.4.