NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 2/9/18

With the Hornets playing in Utah with no rest, Nicolas Batum is a player to avoid in DFS tonight. Who else should you be wary of rostering?

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?

Lauri Markkanen, PF, Chicago Bulls

FanDuel Price: $6,400

Fresh off the birth of his child, Lauri Markkanen is set to return on Friday for the Chicago Bulls, but he is up against a buzzsaw defensively in Taj Gibson and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Markkanen has been out for the last three games, yet going against Gibson in his return is not going to be easy for the Bulls' rookie forward.

The Wolves are holding power forwards to just 0.86 FanDuel points per minute this season, and with Gibson holding players he defends to just 45.3% shooting overall and 34.9% shooting outside of 15 feet, Markkanen could be a risky investment tonight.

Nicolas Batum, SG, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Price: $6,200

Nicolas Batum and the Charlotte Hornets are coming off a tough loss on Thursday night. Playing on no rest against the Utah Jazz on Friday is a really tough fantasy matchup for a team playing on a back-to-back.

The Jazz have been very good against perimeter players, limiting them to 0.78 FanDuel points per minute this season. With Batum's last game against the Jazz totaling only 23.1 FanDuel points, he is not worth the risk in Utah -- especially on the second night of a back-to-back.

Cory Joseph, PG, Indiana Pacers

FanDuel Price: $4,900

Cory Joseph has been getting some more playing time lately because of Darren Collison's injury; however, he hasn't been producing, averaging fewer than 20 FanDuel points per game over his last three.

Now, the Indiana Pacers are heading to face the Boston Celtics on the road. In that tough defensive matchup, Joseph is not that appealing at his price. The Celtics rank number one in FanDuel points allowed to point guards this season, limiting them to 0.83 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.