NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 12/12/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Dec 12th, 2016
Another week of DFS NBA action is upon us. Make sure you start your week off on the right foot by avoiding these players in Monday's contests.

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 only takes 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 Trailblazers

FanDuel Price: $7,500

I've said this before about the Portland Trail Blazers, but outside of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, their offense takes a steep dive downward. They have other guys on their roster who can score, but if a team stopped McCollum or Lillard, chances are they won the game.

The Blazers are only 5-8 this season when either one of their two star guards fails to score at least 20 points, the goal on Monday for the Los Angeles Clippers is pretty clear. While it's hard to stop Lillard, the Clippers have been successful in stifling McCollum in their first two meetings.

McCollum is shooting 9-for-23 in two games against the Clippers this season, and L.A. is allowing only 0.69 FanDuel points per minute to opposing shooting guards. The Clippers could let Lillard go nuts and still win this game, as long as they keep the other Blazers in check.

That's going to start with McCollum.

Thaddeus Young, PF, Indiana Pacers

FanDuel Price: $5,000

Thaddeus Young had not shown a ton of upside this season, until Saturday night against the aforementioned Blazers. He dropped 24 points and had nearly 45 FanDuel points in 40 minutes of action. However, the point chasers will be out in force with a smaller slate on Monday, so it might be best to stay away.

Young is up against the Charlotte Hornets, a team that has already blown out the Indiana Pacers once this season and held Young to just 7.5 FanDuel points in 16 minutes. This is likely due to the underrated defense of Marvin Williams.

Williams is healthy again and holding players he defends to just 45.6% shooting from the floor and 57.1% from within six feet. Combine this with the fact that Charlotte has held power fowards to just 0.86 FanDuel points per minute this year, and it's a good recipe to avoid Young and not try to chase the points.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Price: $4,700

In that same Pacers-Hornets game, you have Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who has been inconsistent this season as he works his way back from missing nearly all of last season. Even at his depressed price, a guy who already struggles to score is going to have a ton of problems with Paul George.

Not only is George going to be a tough cover for the young small forward, but George's defense might be another big hurdle for Kidd-GIlchrist.

George and the Pacers have not been great against small forwards, allowing the fourth-most FanDuel points to that position. However, these two players always seem to have good defensive showings against one another, so I'd lay off both of them.