NBA

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

Dwyane Wade is making his Cavaliers debut on Tuesday, but he may be worth fading on the short DFS slate

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.

Dwyane Wade, SG, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $6,000

With this being the first game of the season, there are a lot of question marks. Unknown usage rates from guys joining new teams is one of the biggest X-factors, Dwyane Wade being the X-iest. Priced at $6,000, we don't know how much -- or how little -- he'll be utilized offensively tonight.

The Cavs have a ton of depth at shooting guard, and you can bet J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver will get some minutes too. (Wade, it should be noted, is 35-years-old. There's little to no chance his minutes will match his age.)

Wade also has a sneaky tough matchup as the starting two guard. As a rookie last season, Jaylen Brown held players he defended to just 40.7% shooting from the floor and 32.7% from beyond the arc. On a short slate, shooting guard is a little tricky unless you're paying up for James Harden. Wade isn't a bad play tonight, but it's tempting to pay $800 more in salary for Klay Thompson to get more exposure to the late game.

Ryan Anderson, PF, Houston Rockets

FanDuel Price: $4,700

Last year Ryan Anderson had a huge overtime game against the Golden State Warriors, during which he scored 29 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the floor.

However, if you take away that game, Anderson's shooting numbers against Draymond Green have been pretty pedestrian. In their 13 other career matchups against one another, Anderson is shooting just 66-for-173 (38.2%) from the floor and 20-for-63 (31.7%) from three-point land.

There is also the matter of P.J. Tucker, who will likely play some of his minutes at power forward tonight. Trevor Ariza played 21% of his minutes at power forward last season, and if Anderson isn't hitting shots -- or isn't getting the job done defensively -- you can bet on him not playing too much. While Anderson's price is appealing, the Houston Rockets might need a more defensive lineup on the floor against Golden State.

Kyle Korver, SG, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $3,200

In 35 regular season games played for the Cavs last year, Kyle Korver averaged 24.5 minutes a night. Now that he is behind Wade and Smith in the shooting guard rotation, it's hard to see him averaging that many minutes again this year.

Granted, Korver could be an excellent tournament play tonight if he comes off the bench and nails four or five three-pointers. However, Korver has been in a bit of a slump this preseason, concerning for a guy whose minutes are not guaranteed.

Korver was a combined 12-for-39 (30.8%) from the floor in five preseason games, and he is 5-for-25 (20.0%) from downtown in those exhibition games. At least in cash games, Korver's floor is too low tonight to warrant rostering on Tuesday.