NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 10/23/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Oct 23rd, 2017
Joel Embiid could have difficultly dealing with Andre Drummond, making him an undesirable fantasy option. Which other NBA players should you avoid rostering tonight?

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 only takes one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.

Joel Embiid, C, Philadelphia 76ers

FanDuel Price: $8,500

Joel Embiid sat out Saturday's loss to the Toronto Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back. He should return to the starting lineup tonight as the Philadelphia 76ers play the Detroit Pistons.

Embiid is averaging 27.5 minutes per game, and although that is more than enough for him to post big numbers, his price tag of $8,500 is a bit concerning on the road against Andre Drummond.

According to our DvP Matchup Chart, the Pistons are allowing just over one FanDuel point per minute to opposing centers, which ranks 9th-best in the league to start the season. Although Embiid is averaging 1.4 FanDuel points per minute in his first two games, he has yet to cross the 40 FanDuel point threshold he needs to reach value at his current price point.

Right now, our models project Embiid for 36.9 FanDuel points on Monday over 29.0 minutes of action. His floor is solid, but playing less than 30 minutes against a defensive specialist like Drummond hurts Embiid's upside.

Dewayne Dedmon, C, Atlanta Hawks

FanDuel Price: $5,500

The Atlanta Hawks have a lot of depth in their frontcourt this season, and Dewayne Dedmon has seen his minutes trend down through the first three games.

With Hassan Whiteside ruled out for Monday, the Hawks don't have much incentive to run Dedmon out for a ton of minutes, especially with John Collins and Mike Muscala playing well. With no need to defend Whiteside, the Hawks can afford to lean a bit more on Collins and Muscala for offense and not have to worry about Whiteside dominating the paint.

Coming off a game on Sunday during which he only played 20 minutes and scored 18.4 FanDuel points, Dedmon's price of $5,500 makes him a risky bet and probably worth avoiding.

Yogi Ferrell, PG, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Price: $5,300

Dennis Smith says he is ready to play on Monday after sitting out the last two for the Dallas Mavericks, which means Yogi Ferrell could lose a ton of fantasy value tonight.

Ferrell has recorded 20.8 and 33.6 FanDuel points, respectively, over the two games Smith has missed, but Smith's return makes it tough to justify rostering Ferrell.

The Golden State Warriors' defense has also been pretty good against opposing point guards in 2017-18. Our DvP Matchup Chart has them ranked 10th-best against point guards, allowing an average of just 0.82 FanDuel points per minute.


Jordan Sharp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jordan Sharp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TEHSHARP. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.