NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 2/10/17

DeMarcus Cousins returns from his one-game suspension on Friday with an avoidable matchup against Dwight Howard.

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.

DeMarcus Cousins, C, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $11,200

After a nice few days of rest due to his one-game suspension, DeMarcus Cousins will be back tonight. However, he has a pretty tough matchup against Dwight Howard that you might be better off avoiding.

While Cousins' usage rate has been steadily climbing due to all the Sacramento Kings' injuries, he has not had a lot of success against Howard in his career.

In their first meeting earlier in the season, Cousins got into foul trouble and was limited to 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 30 minutes. This is still a fine stat line, but for the salary of $11,200, you need a lot more from Cousins.

Foul trouble and substandard stat lines have become the norm when Cousins battles Howard. He has averaged more than 7 fouls per 36 minutes in their last four meetings, and he is shooting just 37.1% from the floor in those four games. Lay off Cousins tonight.

Marcus Morris, SF, Detroit Pistons

FanDuel Price: $5,800

Marcus Morris has the toughest matchup of almost any player on Friday according to our defense versus position matchup chart. He has to face off against Kawhi Leonard in what will almost surely be a landmine performance.

Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs are holding opposing small forwards to just 0.68 FanDuel points per minute, and considering Morris is coming off a four-game stretch where he has averaged 35.6 FanDuel points per game, he has big regression potential tonight.

Leonard is holding players he defends to just 43.8% shooting and 34.5% shooting from beyond the arc. With the Detroit Pistons' forward only shooting 33.6% from the floor in 13 career games against Leonard, it's probably best to jump off the Morris train tonight.

Danny Green, SG, San Antonio Spurs

FanDuel Price: $3,900

Danny Green has been playing some pretty good basketball over his last eight games, and his name has started to be thrown around as someone to target in NBA DFS.

While he may be a stronger play going forward, tonight could be a different story, even with his reasonable price. He squares off with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is a pretty qualified defender.

The Pistons' shooting guard is holding players he defends to just 45.1% shooting from the floor and 30.6% from deep. With the Pistons allowing shooting guards only 0.76 FanDuel points per minute, it's best to avoid Green tonight in what could be a lower scoring game.