NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/9/17

DeMarcus Cousins is normally a fantasy stud, but Thursday's matchup against Toronto is a tough one. Which other players should we shy away from 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.

DeMarcus Cousins, C, New Orleans Pelicans

FanDuel Price: $11,700

DeMarcus Cousins is very good, but that doesn't mean there aren't certain situations when he is worth avoiding. Tonight is one such night.

Cousins and the New Orleans Pelicans are on the road against the Toronto Raptors, and Cousins' price and matchup against Jonas Valanciunas make him a player you'll want to shy away from. The Raptors are holding opposing centers to 0.97 FanDuel points per minute, the third-best mark in the NBA.

Cousins has also put up some pretty lackluster games against Valanciunas in the past. Other than a 61.5-FanDuel-point explosion as a member of the Kings, in seven career meetings between the two, Cousins is shooting just 46.8% from the floor and averaging only 41.5 FanDuel points per game.

De'Aaron Fox, PG, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $5,400

We go from one former Kentucky Wildcat to another as De'Aaron Fox has a very tough assignment at home against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now that Jerryd Bayless is set to miss to next few weeks, T.J. McConnell is going to need to play more minutes for the Sixers, and that means a much tougher defense on opposing point guards.

McConnell is holding players he defends to an excellent 30.3% shooting clip, and that has led the 76ers limiting opposing point guards to just 0.85 FanDuel points per minute. At his price point, this makes Fox a tough player to target on Thursday.

Jamal Murray, PG, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Price: $4,400

Another point guard who has a tough matchup on Thursday is Jamal Murray, who faces off against the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the better defenses in the league to start the year.

The Thunder are limiting opponents to just 99.4 points per 100 possessions, which currently ranks second in the NBA. On top of that, they have been very good against opposing point guards, holding them to 0.85 FanDuel points per minute.

On top of that, Murray has really struggled over his last three games, shooting just 6 for 19 from the floor, and he's starting to lose minutes to Emmanuel Mudiay.



Jordan Sharp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jordan Sharp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TEHSHARP. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.