NBA

3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/6/18

With the Bucks facing an underrated Blazers defense, Eric Bledsoe is in for a long night. Who else are we staying away from in 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 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?

Eric Bledsoe, PG, Milwaukee Bucks

FanDuel Price: $7,100

Playing on a well-balanced Milwaukee Bucks squad has limited Eric Bledsoe's fantasy production this year. While the team is winning, the point guard is posting his lowest scoring numbers in six seasons. He is averaging just 13.6 points per game while his usage rate of 20.5% is the lowest since his days with the Los Angeles Clippers. With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton dominating the ball, opportunities for Bledsoe have shrunk with his DFS production following. He has amassed 27 or fewer FanDuel points in four of his last five games as he has averaged just 11.8 points and 5.8 assists per night. Facing a tough Portland Trail Blazers defense on Tuesday will not help his fantasy fortunes.

Portland ranks fourth in the NBA with a 104.6 defensive rating. Opponents are shooting just 42.6% from the field and 32.8% from three, bottom-four marks in both categories. Point guard production has suffered as the position has averaged 0.84 FanDuel points per minute against Portland, the seventh-lowest rate in the league and worst mark on Tuesday's four-game slate.

C.J. McCollum, SG, Portland Trail Blazers

FanDuel Price: $6,700

There is a direct connection between C.J. McCollum's success in DFS and his three-point shooting. The Portland Trail Blazers guard has averaged 21.7 points and 2.4 threes per game on 41.2% shooting from deep the last three seasons as he has collected over 33.5 FanDuel points per game. This year, though, McCollum has been off the mark. Averaging under 19 points in the first 10 games of the 2018-19 season, McCollum is sinking only 34.5% of his treys while shooting 42.9% from the floor. Over the last week, his accuracy has taken a more significant dip too, making hitting just 3-of-15 (20%) three-pointers. He is averaging 26.5 FanDuel points in the stretch with his fortunes not likely to get better on Tuesday.

Portland's opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, have held opponents to the third-lowest three-point success rate (32.3%) this season. They also own the a league-best defensive rating (100.1) while shooting guards have scored just 0.75 FanDuel points per minute, the third-best mark in the league so far.


Wesley Matthews, SG, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Price: $5,400

After averaging 20.0 points per game in his first six games of the season, Wesley Matthews has fallen into a slump. In two of his last three games, the Dallas Mavericks' guard has registered single-digit points. In those pair of games, he sunk just 5-of-16 shots including 1-of-7 from three. Part of the problem for Matthews has been a reduced role on offense as in those two duds, he posted sub-15% usage rates, culminating in a season-low 13% versus the New York Knicks on Friday. Not helping his chances for rebound is a difficult positional matchup with the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

While have struggled mightily on defense this year -- bottom-two in points allowed and defensive rating -- opposing shooting guards have failed to produce for fantasy purposes. The Wiz are allowing just 0.78 FanDuel points per minute, the seventh-lowest rate in the league. Combine that with Matthews struggles, and it is best to find another shooting guard option on Tuesday.

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.