3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 10/16/18
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?
Draymond Green, PF, Golden State Warriors
FanDuel Price: $8,000
The Golden State Warriors open the 2018-19 season by facing a tough Oklahoma City Thunder frontcourt on Tuesday, which held Draymond Green in check last season. In four meetings against OKC in 2017-18, Green shot just 36.4% from the floor for only 29.2 FanDuel points per game. That was with Dray playing 32.9 minutes per game, which he won't be coming close to on Tuesday.
After suffering a knee injury early in the preseason, Green saw limited action this preseason, making brief appearances in just two games. As he fights to get back in game shape, coach Steve Kerr will be restricting Green's minutes to start the year. There is no word on the extent of the minutes cap for Green, but with the Warriors pushing for a three-peat this season, there is no reason to push the power forward with a sore left knee, especially in October in a game where they are 12.5-point favorites.
Gordon Hayward, SF, Boston Celtics
FanDuel Price: $7,400
It was nearly one year ago that we last saw Gordon Hayward playing in regular season game. After sitting out to recover from a horrific leg injury, Hayward, like Green, is expected to be eased into the season as the Boston Celtics' have NBA title aspirations in a LeBron-less Eastern Conference and don't want to risk the long-term health of the small forward.
Having played just five minutes of meaningful basketball in the last 17 months, Hayward will likely be rusty to start the season as well. In his limited preseason action, he averaged 7.0 points on 25.0% shooting from the floor in 19.7 minutes per game. He is also facing a Philadelphia 76ers' squad that led the NBA in holding opponents to 43.4% shooting percentage last season. That's why our models see him collecting just 21.1 FanDuel points in 25.6 minutes of action on Tuesday, leaving him well short of value for his $7,400 salary.
Markelle Fultz, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
FanDuel Price: $5,700
Even as Markelle Fultz prepares to open the season as the Philadelphia 76ers' starting shooting guard there are plenty of reasons to avoid him in DFS on Tuesday. Fultz won't have complete ownership of the two-guard spot in Philly as he still is battling J.J. Redick for minutes. In fact, the veteran sharpshooter Redick is expected to join the starting five at the beginning of the third quarter in games this season, relegating Fultz to a secondary role late in games.
Even with Fultz on the court, there is some concern about whether he has regained the prolific scoring ability he showed in college. After shooting 40.5% from the floor for 7.1 points in 18.1 minutes per game last season, the former number-one pick was still off in preseason action, posting just 9.0 points in 22.6 minutes per game. He connected on only 20% of his threes while turning the ball over 2.5 times per game. Fultz will also have the unenviable task of being defended by the Celtics' Jaylen Brown, who held opponents to a 39.6% shooting percentage last season.
Dale Redman is not a FanDuel employee. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
