NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/4/16

C.J. McCollum should have to deal with the defense of Wesley Matthews tonight, making him a player to avoid.

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 tonight in your DFS NBA lineups, but what about some 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 each night. After all, it takes only one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.

C.J. McCollum, SG, Portland Trail Blazers

FanDuel Price: $7,100

C.J. McCollum is off to another great start this season, but he is also running up against one of the craftier and better defenders in the league in Wesley Matthews tonight. Matthews is starting to regain his form after a year of not looking like himself, coming off an Achilles rupture. So far this young season, Matthews' defense has been second to none.

Players Matthews is defending this season are averaging 38.5% shooting. He has been giving up three-pointers, but Matthews is limiting players he defends to shooting just 33.3% from within 10 feet from the basket.

TheDallas Mavericks are going to try and take out either Damian Lillard or McCollum in this matchup, and with an accomplished defender like Matthews, it makes sense for them to stop McCollum to give them a chance to win the game. In their three career matchups against one another, McCollum is only posting a 31.6% shooting clip from the floor against the Mavs' guard.

Marcin Gortat, C, Washington Wizards

FanDuel Price: $6,000

The Atlanta Hawks were embarrassed against the Los Angeles Lakers two nights ago, and you can bet they are going to want to come out swinging on the road in Washington tonight. We have touched on Dwight Howard's improved defense so far to start the season, and after he slowed down Marcin Gortat in their first game against one another, I see it happening again tonight.

Gortat had only 4 points and 11 rebounds against Howard in their first meeting, which added up to fewer than 20 FanDuel points. Even with the Washington Wizards thin up front, Gortat is going to need to score between 10 and 15 points even to get close to making value, and trying to do that on Howard is going to be tough.

So far this young season, Howard is holding players he defends to shooting only 38.1% from the floor and an amazing 31.3% from within six feet from the basket.

Julius Randle, PF, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $6,100

Julius Randle has already been a member of the landmines once this week, and he is back again as the Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors. Golden State blew out the Oklahoma City Thunder last night, and they could be ready to do the same thing to the Lakers on the second night of a back to back. If they don't have a letdown game, Randle's upside is almost completely taken away for two big reasons.

The most obvious one is his matchup against Draymond Green. Green has ben able to focus more on defense with Kevin Durant taking away the need for him to be the third scoring option. Because of this, Green is holding players he defends to only 39.7% shooting overall this season and an outstanding 44.0% shooting from within six feet from the basket.

The other factor holding back Randle in this one is Luke Walton's recent rotations. Larry Nance Jr. has been playing great over the last two games, and he and Randle have essentially been splitting minutes at power forward. If you want a piece of this game, play Nance at $3,900 and save the money from Randle. Nance has scored more FanDuel points than Randle in two straight games now.