NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 1/11/18

Based on his current playing time and tough matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, it's better to keep Kyle Kuzma off your NBA DFS rosters. Which other players should you avoid for Thursday's contests?

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 takes only one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference between winning and losing your contests. Which players should we avoid tonight?

Jonas Valanciunas, C, Toronto Raptors

FanDuel Price: $6,200

While some may look to Jonas Valanciunas with the Toronto Raptors potentially down two starters, that might not be a worthwhile investment on Thursday's short slate. With Serge Ibaka out due to a suspension and Kyle Lowrylooking doubtful, those absences could hurt Valanciunas' upside.

According to NBA Wowy, Valanciunas goes from having a usage rate of 21.5% and an average of 1.27 points per play (PPP) when Ibaka and Lowry are on the court to a 14.2% usage rate and 0.97 PPP with both off the court.

Isaiah Thomas, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $5,400

Isaiah Thomas is going to be an excellent fantasy asset once he is back to full strength, but the newest member of the Cleveland Cavaliers is likely still going to be on a minutes restriction against the Raptors.

If he isn't playing minutes in the high 20's, there is little sense in rostering him for this road matchup. Toronto is holding opposing point guards to just 0.85 FanDuel points per minute, so lay off Thomas until his minutes restriction is lifted.

Kyle Kuzma, PF, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $5,100

Even though I'm president of the Kyle Kuzma fan club, the Los Angeles Lakers have been bringing their young rookie off the bench recently, and that has really hurt his upside.

Kuzma has played fewer than 25 minutes in three of his last five games, and with the San Antonio Spurs holding power forwards to 0.85 FanDuel points per minute, it's tough to warrant rostering Kuzma if he isn't getting the playing time.



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.