NBA

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

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Mar 1st, 2018
Spencer Dinwiddie's usage has taken a hit with D'Angelo Russell back, making Dinwiddie tough to stomach in cash games tonight despite a dope matchup with the Kings.

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?

Spencer Dinwiddie, PG, Brooklyn Nets

FanDuel Price: $7,100

Since D'Angelo Russell returned from injury, Spencer Dinwiddie has seen his scoring take a slight hit. Even though he has posted eight or more assists in six of his last seven games, Dinwiddie's lower usage could make him a tough player to target on Thursday, even against a poor defensive team like the Sacramento Kings.

According to NBA Wowy, Dinwiddie has a usage rate of just 17.1% with he shares the court with Russell, compared to a 22.3% usage rate when Russell is off the court. Considering Dinwiddie is averaging just 29.1 FanDuel points per game in his last five with Russell back to playing bigger minutes, the price is not right with Dinwiddie tonight.

Brook Lopez, C, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $5,000

At this point in the season, it's hard to tell what the Los Angeles Lakers will do with Brook Lopez's minutes on any given night. They are probably going to need Lopez tonight against the Miami Heat and Hassan Whiteside, but the Lakers have also started to give Ivica Zubac minutes again.

Zubac has played well over his last four games, averaging 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds in just over 16 minutes per game. If he continues cutting into Lopez's playing time, the veteran big man is not a target in DFS, especially at a $5,000 price tag. Lopez has played no more than 24 minutes in the Lakers' three games since the break.

Tristan Thompson, C, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $4,500

Tristan Thompson is coming off two straight games with double-digit rebounds, but tonight he has a tough matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Because of injury, Thompson has yet to face off against Joel Embiid this season, but Embiid and the Sixers have slowly started improving their interior defense against bigs. Philadelphia ranks 13th in our defense-versus-position matchup chart against centers this year, and with Thompson still playing minutes in the low 20's lately, it's hard to trust him against Embiid.



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.