NBA

3 Fantasy Basketball Options to Avoid on 12/11/18

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Dec 11th, 2018
Kyle Lowry has not been his usual self since hurting his back last week, leaving off our radar for DFS. Who else are we staying away from on Tuesday's three-game slate?g

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?

Kyle Lowry, PG, Toronto Raptors

FanDuel Price: $7,800

On small slates, like Tuesday’s three-gamer, if you choose to pay up for one of the top options you better be confident they will go off, or risk tanking your lineup. With Kyle Lowry mired in a slump over the last week, it’s hard to feel good plugging him in against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

Since sitting out on December 1 with a back injury, Lowry has seen his fantasy points drop with each start thanks to an inexplicable inability to score. The Toronto Raptors' point guard has dropped just 15 total points (3.8 per game) in his last four games as he struggles to find his shot. He has gone 4-for-28 from the field (14.3%) and 3-for-25 from three (12.0%). Lowry hit rock bottom the last time out, playing 33.5 scoreless minutes for a season-low 16.5 FanDuel points. While eventually, Lowry will find his rhythm, Tuesday is not likely to be that night against the Clippers.

L.A. is holding opponents to just 31.4% shooting from beyond the arc in their last 10 games, the third-best mark in the NBA. One of the league’s better perimeter defenders lies in Los Angeles too with Avery Bradley holding opponents to just 39.5% shooting this season.

Montrezl Harrell, PF, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $6,700

In the midst of a breakout season, Montrezl Harrell has taken a step back recently, from a fantasy perspective.

In three of the big man’s last four games, he has posted sub-19.0 FanDuel point nights. In those three games, Harrell is posting a pedestrian line of 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists for 16.3 FanDuel points in just over 25 minutes per game. The struggles for Harrell are not limited to one area his game either. After posting a 22.6% usage rate and 14.9% rebound percentage in his first 22 games, the Clippers center has seen his rebound rate drop to 9.0% and his usage to 19.3% in the last four contests. His true shooting percentage is only 50.8% during the stretch too. Facing the Raptors on Tuesday will not help his chances of getting back on track either.

Toronto owns a top-seven defensive rating (105.8) and are holding opponents to 107.8 points per game, the sixth-lowest total in the NBA. Opposing centers -- where Harrell plays 94% of the time -- have failed to produce in DFS too, averaging 1.08 FanDuel points per minute, a bottom-10 rate in the league.

Evan Turner, SF, Portland Trail Blazers

FanDuel Price: $4,700

On three-game slate, you need some lower-priced options to outproduce expectations if you are going to win some money. Evan Turner is not one of those options on Tuesday.

The Portland Trail Blazers wing has surpassed 19.3 FanDuel points just once in his last four games, averaging a dismal 17.1 FanDuel points in those outings. For the season, Turner is playing a decent number of minutes (25.9 per game) for someone with a sub-$5,000 price tag. However, he is failing to do much in his time on the court. Turner is averaging just 7.4 points and 3.8 assists in his last 8 games, posting just a 16.0% usage rate. He has also broken the 19.3 FanDuel point barrier just three times since mid-November. With a tough matchup on tap of Tuesday, don’t expect much from Turner against the Houston Rockets.

Points could be hard to come by as the Rockets run at the second-slowest pace in the league while holding small forward to 0.8 FanDuel points per minute, the fifth-lowest rate in the NBA this season.

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.