NBA

3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/5/18

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Nov 5th, 2018
The expected defensive struggle between the Celtics and Nuggets on Monday has us avoiding Al Horford. Who else are we skipping over in DFS?

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?

Al Horford, C, Boston Celtics

FanDuel Price: $6,600

The Boston Celtics-Denver Nuggets game on Monday may be the premier matchup of the day from an entertainment standpoint, but for DFS there are several bust candidates with Al Horford headlining our list.

The Celtics and Nuggets are two of the elite defenses in the NBA -- both own a top-three defensive rating -- leaving points be hard to come by. The matchup has the lowest over/under (207.0) on the nine-game slate. For Horford, he faces a Denver frontcourt that has shut down opposing centers, allowing 0.97 FanDuel points per minute, the second-lowest rate in the league. Thanks in part to their league-leading rebounding rate (54.3%), opponents grab just 41.1 rebounds per game, only two teams allow fewer.

With rebounds and points to come by, it will be hard for Horford to rack up the FanDuel points. Which is something he has been struggling to do recently. In three of this last four games, the Celtics' center has failed to reach 30 FanDuel points, averaging 26.5 over the last week-plus.

Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors

FanDuel Price: $6,400

Despite Klay Thompson's 52 point outburst one week ago, the Golden State Warriors' guard has been hard to trust in fantasy. Ignoring the game against the porous Chicago Bulls' defense, Klay has eclipsed 30 FanDuel points in just one other game (out of 10) this season. Removing last Monday's result, Thompson is averaging only 25.0 FanDuel points so far. Through 10 games, he is posting his worst numbers in six seasons in points (19.8), field goal percentage (44.8%), and three-point percentage (32.9%). Against the Memphis Grizzlies tonight, we would not count on Thompson to go off.

The Grizzlies area top-four team in terms of defensive rating (103.8) and play at the second-slowest pace in the league. Opponents are scoring just 100.3 points per game against them this season. Shooting guards specifically have been limited to 0.75 FanDuel points per minute, the fourth-lowest rate in the league.

Reggie Jackson, PG, Detroit Pistons

FanDuel Price: $5,800

Reggie Jackson is in a horrific shooting slump this season, making just 33.9% of his shots this season. His volume (13.6 attempts per game) is the only thing saving his scoring average (15.3). Over his last five games, the Detroit Pistons' point guard has grown even colder. He is sinking just 28.8% of his shots including 25.0% of his three-pointers for 12.4 points per game. In three of those five games, Jackson has registered 18.8 FanDuel points or less averaging just 20.6 per night since October 25.

Due to his cold streak, Jackson has been losing playing time to Ish Smith, playing fewer than 27 minutes in four of his last five games. With the Miami Heat ranking in the upper half of the league in field goal percentage allowed and opponents dishing out less than 23 assists per game, Jackson is not a candidate for a bounce-back game on Monday and is best avoided in the day's nine-game slate.

Dale Redman is not a FanDuel employee. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.