3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/2/17
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.
Al-Farouq Aminu, PF, Portland Trail Blazers
FanDuel Price: $5,300
Since returning from injury, Al-Farouq Aminu has seen his minutes and role get reduced -- he's played fewer than 30 minutes in his last two games, which is part of the reason why he has ladmine potential for Thursday's DFS contests.
The Portland Trail Blazers are up against the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight, meaning Aminu will likely be matched up with Taj Gibson plenty. Even without Gibson for most of the season, the Thunder are allowing only 0.84 FanDuel points per minute to opposing power forwards.
Gibson came off the Thunder bench and played well in 26 minutes against the Utah Jazz two nights ago and has been a force on defense -- between the Thunder and Chicago Bulls, he's allowing players he defends just 45.6% shooting overall, including 53.6% from within six feet.
Andrew Iguodala, SF, Golden State Warriors
FanDuel Price: $4,800
With the injury to Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala is going to need to step up for the Golden State Warriors during the remainder of the regular season. However, assuming he enters the starting lineup tonight against the Bulls, it might be a night to avoid the veteran.
Iguodala will likely be matched up against Jimmy Butler if he starts, and that's a recipe for disaster for those looking to take advantage of Iguodala's cheap price tag. Chicago is holding opposing small forwards to just 0.74 FanDuel points per minute.
Plus, the small forward hasn't done much even when given 30-plus minutes this season, averaging a pedestrian 0.72 FanDuel points per minute. In a tough matchup on both ends of the court, it's best to avoid Iguodala on the road.
Bobby Portis, PF, Chicago Bulls
FanDuel Price: $4,200
Bobby Portis had his first big game as a starter, scoring 12 points and grabbing 6 boards in 28 minutes against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. However, the Bulls are likely going to need offense more than Portis' defense tonight, so Nikola Mirotic might get more minutes at power forward despite seeing his playing time decline overall recently.
In three games since trading away Gibson, the Bulls have given Portis an average of just 21 minutes per game, compared to Mirotic's 28.7 minutes per game.
Against a team like the Warriors, the Bulls are going to need someone who can stretch the floor and force Draymond Green to defend. Mirotic has a couple of nice games against Green in his career, which could lead to Portis' minutes staying suppressed tonight because Chicago will probably need some offense.
