NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/26/18

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Mar 26th, 2018
Josh Jackson has been seeing an increased role, but he draws a tough matchup with the Celtics. Which other players should you lessen your exposure to tonight?

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?

Marc Gasol, C, Memphis Grizzlies

FanDuel Price: $7,800

With the Memphis Grizzlies tanking away the rest of the season in an attempt to get the best lottery odds, the fantasy value of Marc Gasol in both season-long and DFS has suffered. Gasol has a career-worst 46.2% effective field goal percentage this season, and he has a tough matchup on both ends today against Karl-Anthony Towns.

The last time Gasol played Towns, the veteran took it to the Wolves' big man for 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. However, in their prior career meetings, Gasol is averaging only 28.2 FanDuel points per game against Towns. With the Wolves ranking seventh-best against centers this season, per our numbers, Gasol might not be a great target at his price tag.

Josh Jackson, SF, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $7,200

Josh Jackson has started to struggle lately as defenses begin to key in on the talented rookie. Jackson is shooting just 20 for 56 (35.7%) over his last three games, and the Phoenix Suns' matchup against the Boston Celtics should be a tough one for Jackson.

The Celtics are holding small forwards to 0.77 FanDuel points per minute, and Jaylen Brown has been a big reason why. Brown is holding players he defends to just 38.3% shooting from the floor, and he made his return from injury on Sunday. Even if Brown is limited tonight, Boston will have plenty of talented defenders to throw at Jackson.

Elfird Payton, PG, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $5,600

Even on a small slate, it's hard to like the Suns tonight due to the aforementioned tough matchup with Boston. Like Jackson, Elfrid Payton is a scary play.

Payton will see a lot of Terry Rozier, who is holding players he defends to 40.8% shooting from the floor, and the Celtics are limiting point guards to just 0.84 FanDuel points per minute.

Payton went off in his last game (a matchup with the Orlando Magic), but prior to that outing, he was averaging only 22.2 minutes over the Suns' previous five games. With shaky minutes and a brutal matchup, Payton is hard to get behind.

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.