NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 1/26/17

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jan 26th, 2017
Thaddeus Young has a tough assignment tonight against Gorgui Dieng. Who else should you avoid in NBA 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 only takes one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.

Thaddeus Young, PF, Indiana Pacers

FanDuel Price: $5,600

The Indiana Pacers are having a rough go of it lately, and for Thaddeus Young, it won't get any easier tonight. He has to square off against Gorgui Dieng, who is proving to be one of the tougher defenders for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Dieng ranks 10th in the league in ESPN's real defensive plus-minus ratings, and so far this season, the Wolves have held opposing power forwards to just 0.84 FanDuel points per minute.

Young has put up some big numbers lately, but against a bigger and just as mobile defender, the Pacers' power forward is in for a tough time trying to reach DFS value tonight.

Luol Deng, SF, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $4,400

Luol Deng re-entered the Los Angeles Lakers' starting lineup last night and didn't do much. Now, the Lakers are 12-point underdogs on the road against the Utah Jazz tonight, a matchup in which you might want to avoid all Lakers.

The Lakers have played the Jazz tough this season, but they have yet to play Utah with with a full roster. That won't happen tonight with Rodney Hood still out, but coming off the back-to-back, the Lakers are at risk of a blowout. If that's the case, Deng won't see the court much.

He is already basically in a timeshare with Brandon Ingram at small forward. Going against the Jazz, who are holding small forwards to just 0.71 FanDuel points per minute, it's not the night to expect a bounce back from Deng.

Andrew Bogut, C, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Price: $3,700

Andrew Bogut and the Dallas Mavericks are playing on a back-to-back tonight, and they will be without Dirk Nowitzki, who is resting.

However, for now it looks like Bogut will suit up, but that doesn't mean you should try and extract fantasy value with him, especially because he is going up against Steven Adams.

Adams and the Oklahoma City Thunder have held centers to 0.91 FanDuel points per minute this season. With Bogut's minutes still limited, don't get cute with him tonight.