3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/9/18
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?
Taurean Prince, SF, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $6,600
After a hot start, Taurean Prince has cooled off considerably. The Atlanta Hawks' forward collected an average of 32.8 FanDuel points in his first five games behind the strength of 20.6 points, 5.0 rebound, 3.2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. In the following six games, Prince has posted just 10.4 points per game on 29.5% shooting from the field and 22.2% from three. He's finished with only 21.5 FanDuel points per night, and last time out, he came off the bench behind DeAndre Bembry. If that continues, the forward will have a tough time being productive in DFS, especially in tough matchups like the one he has on Friday.
The Detroit Pistons own a top-10 defensive rating (106.0) while limiting opponents to just 32.5% shooting from beyond the arc, the fifth-lowest rate in the league. With Stanley Johnson applying the pressure on small forwards, the position has produced the second-fewest FanDuel points per minute this season (0.76).
D'Angelo Russell, PG, Brooklyn Nets
FanDuel Price: $6,400
The Brooklyn Nets/Denver Nuggets game on Friday projects to be one of the slowest games of the night. Both teams run at a bottom-four pace, with Denver carrying the second-best defensive rating in the league. That leaves the Nets in a tie for the lowest implied point total of the day (101.5). With points at a premium and the Nuggets being stingy to the point guard position -- 0.81 Fanduel points per minutes allowed to the position, third-lowest in the NBA -- it will be hard to bank on D'Angelo Russell on a seven-game slate.
Russell's shot has been off lately, with the point guard scoring more than 15 points just once in his last 5 games. He is shooting 37.3% from the field and 20.0% from deep. His struggles have led to Spencer Dinwiddie earning extra minutes and spending more time on the court than Russell -- 27.4 to 25.4 minutes per game since October 29. It's best to stay away until Russell bounces back.
Joe Ingles, SF, Utah Jazz
FanDuel Price: $5,700
Over his last three games, Joe Ingles has been tossing up bricks on the regular. The Utah Jazz forward has sunk only 22.2% of his 9.0 shots per game while scoring in single-digits in all three contests. The shooting funk has left Ingles a dud in fantasy, producing an average of 20.5 FanDuel points per night. It has not been just scoring that has suffered in Ingles slump either; the forward is averaging 2.7 rebounds in the last three games. That's a 45% drop off from the first eight games of the season. If Ingles is going to get back on track on Friday, he will have to do it against one of the best defenses in the NBA, too.
The Boston Celtics sit atop the league in defensive rating (100.6) and three-point percentage allowed (29.8%). With Boston giving up the third-fewest point per game (102.0), it makes sense the matchup with Utah carries the lowest over/under of the day (207.5) and leads it to being one to want little exposure to on Friday.
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.
