NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 2/15/18

Gary Harris draws a tough road matchup with the Bucks, and Harris has struggled this season away from home, making him a player to shy away from 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 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?

Gary Harris, SG, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Price: $6,000

Gary Harris has struggled over his last three games, and with a road game looming on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks, Harris is far from a safe play.

The Bucks are holding opposing shooting guards to 0.78 FanDuel points per minute this season, and Harris' shooting percentage drops almost four percentage points when he plays away from home. Of the four teams playing tonight, Denver has the lowest implied total 104.5, so Harris doesn't have much going for him today.

Brook Lopez, C, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $5,300

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a lopsided loss on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, and things don't get any easier tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lopez played only 18 minutes in the blowout loss last night, but even if he sees minutes in the 20s on Thursday, his pathway to value is a tough one as the 'Wolves are holding centers to the fifth-fewest FanDuel points per minute. Lopez needs 26.5 FanDuel points to pay off (5 points per every $1,000 in salary), and playing on the second night of a back-to-back is going to make it even harder for Lopez to hit that threshold.

Trey Lyles, PF, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Price: $5,000

The Trey Lyles fanfare has subsided a little over the Denver Nuggets' last two games, and tonight might be another rough night for Lyles coming off two straight bad games. With Wilson Chandler back and playing well, Lyles' playing time alone is enough of a reason to fade him, and the matchup against the Bucks won't help.

The Bucks are holding opposing power forwards to a league-best 0.84 FanDuel points per minute. The defense of Giannis Antetokounmpo has been a big reason why as he is limiting players he defends to 40.4% shooting.

With his role shrinking and a tough matchup on deck, Lyles can't be trusted tonight.




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.