NBA

3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/7/18

With Marc Gasol struggling and the Griz facing a tough Denver frontcourt, we are staying away on Wednesday. What other players should you leave out of your DFS lineups?

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: $8,000

The 2018-19 season has not gotten off to the best start for Marc Gasol. The Memphis Grizzlies' center's offensive game has been off as he is posting his lowest scoring average (13.8) in eight seasons. The presence of Jaren Jackson Jr. in the frontcourt and his superior offensive game have bumped Gasol down to third on the team in usage, with his 20.0% usage rate sitting as his lowest since 2013. Last time out, the big man took just two shots and posted a single-digit usage rate (9.5%) as he finished with his second consecutive single-digit scoring game. The disappointing two-game stretch (28.8 FanDuel points per game) is likely to continue on Wednesday as Memphis faces the Denver Nuggets.

Denver owns the second-best defensive rating (101.8) and allow the fourth-fewest points per game (102.4). Those factors leave Memphis with the lowest implied point total of the day (100.5). Centers specifically have struggled against the Nuggets in DFS with Denver and their frontcourt of Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap leading the NBA in rebound percentage (54.0%). Centers have racked up only 0.97 FanDuel points per minute against Denver, the second-lowest rate in the league.

Gary Harris, SG, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Price: $7,000

A 38.9% three-point shooter the last three seasons, Gary Harris has been off the mark from deep so far this year. Through 10 games, the Nuggets guard is sinking just 26.7% of his 4.5 three-pointers per game this year. Over the last three games, his accuracy has continued to decline, connecting on only 23.3% of his treys. With his scoring a large part of his fantasy success, Harris has been a bust in DFS over his last four games. He is averaging less than 28 FanDuel points per game as his he has scored 16 or fewer real-world point in three of those games. Facing the Grizzlies on Wednesday won't help his chances at breaking out of his scoring slump.

Memphis owns a top-seven defensive rating while running at the second-slowest pace in the NBA this season. Vegas sees the matchup with the Nugs and Griz as a defensive battle giving the game by far the lowest over/under of the day (204.5). The Grizzlies and Garrett Temple have clamped down on shooting guards too with the position scoring only 0.77 FanDuel points per minute against Memphis.

Nemanja Bjelica, SF, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $6,700

Nemanja Bjelica has been one of the best surprises in fantasy and the NBA this season. Spending most of his career coming off the bench in Minnesota, Bjelica has shone in a starting role with the Sacramento Kings.

Bjelica is averaging 30.3 FanDuel points as he drops career-highs in scoring (14.4), rebounds (5.8), and steals (1.2) per game while shooting over 56% from the field. Despite all the good vibes, the Kings forward has slumped in his last two games while coming off his worst DFS performance of the season. Bjelica posted just 9.3 FanDuel points on Sunday as he scored 4 points with 4 rebounds on 25% shooting in a tough matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. With another difficult assignment on the schedule for Wednesday it will be hard for Bjelica to get back on track.

The Kings face off with the Toronto Raptors, owners of a top-10 defensive rating. The Raps have held opponents to 42.9% shooting from the floor, the fourth-lowest mark in the league. Even though he is listed as a small forward, Bjelica has played exclusively at the four, a position Toronto has held in check. Power forwards have scored 0.89 FanDuel points per minutes, the ninth-lowest rate in the league this 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.