3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/25/16
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 larger slate of NBA games on tonight, searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.
Victor Oladipo, SG, Orlando Magic
FanDuel Price: $8,400
Without Nikola Vucevic over the last few weeks, Victor Oladipo has taken over the number-one scoring role in Orlando. He has done well with it too, and after being in and out of Scott Skiles' doghouse at times this season, Oladipo has scored at least 40 FanDuel points in four of his last six games. However, that consistency took a hit in his last game against the Pistons, and tonight against the Heat, he might fall short of value again.
A big reason for this is his price, which has steadily risen over the last few weeks. On March 4th, Oladipo was priced at $6,600. He has seen his price rise more than 20 percent from that point in his last six games. Even though he has put up big numbers along the way, when debating on rostering someone, you have to ask yourself whether or not Oladipo has a better chance of reaching value than players close to, or even below, his price point.
Tonight, we have Oladipo projected for 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists against the Heat. Miami ranks as the third-best team against shooting guards this season, so while Oladipo could have a big game against them, there are other players who are probably more likely to meet or exceed value in the $8,000 price range tonight.
Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Dallas Mavericks
FanDuel Price: $8,000
Dirk Nowitzki has been on fire over the month of March and is putting up numbers that even Nowitzki of 10 years ago might be jealous of. However, all good things must come to an end, and with his price sky-rocketing up to the $8,000 mark for tonight’s game against the Warriors, it might be finally time to jump ship.
It might be risky fading Nowitzki tonight, but his ownership will surely be high with the insane run he has been on. He has an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 59.1 percent in his last 11 games, but he will also need another 40 FanDuel point performance tonight against the runner up for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Nowitzki torched Draymond Green just a week ago, but now the tables have turned, and the Mavs have to travel into Oracle Arena, one of the toughest places to play in the NBA. In his last three trips to Oracle dating back to the 2013-14 season, Nowitzki is averaging fewer than 20 FanDuel points per game.
Even though the Warriors rank only 14th against power forwards this season, giving up an average of 0.9 FanDuel points per minute to the position, Green has been stellar defensively this season and might take it personally that a 37-year-old Nowitzki dominated him last week. Players Green defends are shooting less than 40 percent from the floor this season and less than 30 percent from the three-point line.
With Nowitzki going on the road tonight, it might be the night where he falls victim to landmine status.
Marcus Morris, SF, Detroit Pistons
FanDuel Price: $5,500
Marcus Morris is coming off of two very good games against the Magic and Bucks, and now the Pistons have to welcome in the red-hot Hornets into the Palace at Auburn Hills. While Morris has been having a career season in Detroit, the Hornets present a tough matchup for the young swingman in Nicolas Batum. The Hornets rank only 20th against small forwards this season, but in their matchups both this season and beyond, Morris has had trouble going up against Batum.
In their most recent meeting two weeks ago, Morris failed to reach 20 FanDuel points. In their last three meetings against one another, Morris is averaging only 15.9 FanDuel points, with one of those games coming when both players were members of different teams.
While the Hornets have not been great against small forwards, Batum has been an above-average defender this season. He is holding players he defends to only 42.3 percent from the floor and only 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Don’t get sucked into Morris’ last two games and think he can do it again tonight against a Hornets team with a Defensive Rating of 104.3, which ranks seventh-best in the league.
