3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 4/11/16
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.
Jimmy Butler, SG, Chicago Bulls
FanDuel Price: $8,400
While the Pelicans do not present a tough matchup at all for the Bulls tonight, there is a chance that Jimmy Butler might not see his full complement of minutes, This is simply a hunch and doesn’t have much backing it up other than that, but the Bulls have been eliminated from the playoff race, and Butler has already had one major knee scare this season.
It would put an even worse damper on the season if one of Chicago’s main players got hurt in a meaningless game, and while some other Bulls may or may not sit out, if Chicago does play their starters in this one, I doubt it’s for the usual number of minutes.
Other than Derrick Rose, Butler is the main candidate to get his minutes reduced. Aside from huge games against Detroit and Milwaukee a little more than a week ago, Butler has been underwhelming since his return from his knee injury. With that being said, at $8,400, it’s a little too risky to roster Jimmy Buckets with all the uncertainty.
Ricky Rubio, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves
FanDuel Price: $6,500
Ricky Rubio is coming off a nice game against Portland on Saturday, but that may just be a mirage for the young Wolves' point guard. Rubio has been very inconsistent over his last seven games or so, putting up three games of at least 30 FanDuel points and four games of fewer than 20. Tonight may be another night of fewer than 20, as the Rockets and Patrick Beverley come to town.
Beverley has owned Rubio in the past, as he does with most point guards. In his last four games against Beverley, Rubio is averaging only 25.7 FanDuel points per game, and he has turned the ball over a total of 13 times in those four games. With turnovers counting against you so much on FanDuel and with Rubio’s scoring sporadic at best, don’t expect him to have a big game tonight.
Ronnie Price, PG, Phoenix Suns
FanDuel Price: $3,600
Do not be fooled by the price for Ronnie Price. In the Suns' last game, he played only 23 minutes and a was a huge landmine with only 6.5 FanDuel points, after posting at least 20 points in three of his last four games. However, one big factor tonight could make him a landmine again, and it’s Archie Goodwin's playing time.
Goodwin was the flavor of the month in NBA DFS right after the turn into 2016. However, once Brandon Knight came back, Goodwin went into Earl Watson’s doghouse. Now, he has escaped and is putting up good numbers, posting 60 FanDuel points in his last two games. With nothing to play for, the Suns may elect to give him some extended run at point guard to see if he has learned anything from his time starting back in February.
That means that could drastically cut into Price’s minutes. He and Goodwin have been splitting minutes at point guard over the last two games, and that spells bad news for Price. Even though Goodwin is a shooting guard, that’s better for FanDuel because it’s a tougher position to fill. Pay the extra $300 for Goodwin and leave Price off your rosters.
