NBA

3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 1/11/19

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Jan 11th, 2019
Josh Hart and the Lakers may find points hard to come by against the Jazz on Friday. Who else are we avoiding on the nine-game DFS slate?

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?

Emmanuel Mudiay, PG, New York Knicks

FanDuel Price: $6,000

Coming off one of his worst DFS performances of the year and facing perhaps the most challenging point guard matchups of the nine-game slate, Emmanuel Mudiay is best left out of your lineup on Friday.

Against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Mudiay posted just 15.4 FanDuel points, his lowest output since December 9. The performance was his fourth game with 21.7 FanDuel points or fewer in his last nine games. He scored just seven points on 3-for-8 shooting with two rebounds and four assists in 24.7 minutes as the New York Knicks were blown out. Friday night against the Indiana Pacers, there is another risk of a rout as the Knicks are nine-point underdogs. Points will be at a premium too, as New York is carrying a 105.0 implied point total, the fourth-lowest of the 18 teams in action. The matchup is also strength versus weakness as the Pacers own the second-best defensive rating (104.1) on the season, while the Knicks are 25th in offensive rating (105.5).

The final factor hurting Mudiay’s outlook has been the tough backcourt defense of the Pacers this season. Indy has held point guards to the lowest FanDuel points per minute (0.82) this season.

Josh Hart, SG, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $5,500

Another player coming off a dud of a performance and facing a stiff challenge on Friday is Josh Hart of the Los Angeles Lakers.

On Wednesday night, Hart scored just two points on three shots in 26.4 minutes for 11.4 Fanduel points against the Detroit Pistons. The performance was the third time in last four games he scored 10 or fewer points, despite maintaining a starting role. He has finished with 20.4 FanDuel points or less twice in the previous three games. Against the Utah Jazz on Friday, the Lakers are expected to strugle for points, further hurting Hart’s outlook.

Los Angeles owns the third-lowest implied point total as the square off with a Jazz team that owns the second-best defensive rating (103.3) in the NBA over their last 10 games. They are allowing just 102.9 points per game while holding opponents to 44.2% shooting from the floor during the stretch. Making matters worse for Hart, shooting guards have performed poorly in DFS against Utah, scoring just 0.75 FanDuel points per minute this season, the fewest in the NBA.

Jeff Green, SF, Washington Wizards

FanDuel Price: $5,400

Jeff Green's fantasy usefulness may be coming to an end for the Washington Wizards.

Over the last 15 games, Green has played 32.0 minutes per game as he was a fixture in the starting lineup. However, in the previous two games, with Otto Porter healthy, Green has seen his production and playing time decline. In the last two contests, Green has played just 26.0 minutes a night, while posting an underwhelming stat line of 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists for 19.6 FanDuel points. Even if Green remains in the starting lineup Friday, he is bound to see minutes closer to the 24.6 he played on Wednesday, as Porter takes on a more significant role, especially against the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.

While the Bucks are likely to be without Giannis Antetokounmpo, they still are capable of playing tough defense. In the two games the Greek Freak has missed this season Milwaukee allowed an average of 100.5 points per game. For the season, the limit opponents to the worst shooting percentage in the NBA (43.1%) and have dropped that number even further (40.8%) over their last 10 games.


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.