NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 1/12/18

Michael Beasley is worth fading tonight in a tough matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Which other NBA players should you avoid for Friday's DFS contests?

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?

Michael Beasley, SF, New York Knicks

FanDuel Price: $7,300

Much like the price and returns of Bitcoin, Michael Beasley has seen his production and FanDuel price skyrocket just in time for a tough matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wolves are holding opposing small forwards to 0.74 FanDuel points per minute this season, and our models currently project Beasley for only 25.4 FanDuel points. He's much more affordable on DraftKings, but he is a hard fade on Friday at his current price on FanDuel.

Taj Gibson, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves

FanDuel Price: $5,700

In the same game as Beasley, Taj Gibson is also looking at a tougher pathway to reaching value, but Gibson's problems stem from having to defend and likely being defended by Kristaps Porzingis.

The New York Knicks are holding power forwards to 0.87 FanDuel points per minute this season, and Porzingis is limiting players he defends to just 41.4% shooting. With Gibson averaging 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds over five career meetings with Porzingis, it's not worth the risk on tonight's nine-game slate.

Lance Stephenson, SF, Indiana Pacers

FanDuel Price: $5,000

Even though Lance Stephenson has been playing a huge role off the bench for this Indiana Pacers team, he's yet to see his price corrected on FanDuel now that Victor Oladipo is back in the fold.

With Stephenson likely being asked to defend LeBron James at times tonight, our models are not that high on him, projecting just 20.5 FanDuel points.



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.