3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/1/19
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?
Serge Ibaka, PF, Toronto Raptors
FanDuel Price: $6,000
The presence of Marc Gasol in Toronto has started to wear down Serge Ibaka’s minutes. The big man has played in fewer than 24 minutes in his last two games, even while starting on Tuesday. While the blowout nature of Tuesday’s game likely reduced his minutes to just 20 against the Boston Celtics, another concern is the dip in production Ibaka has had in the limited action.
In his four games before the minutes dip, Ibaka averaged 38.8 FanDuel points in 29.2 minutes, a 1.33 FanDuel points per minute rate. However, over the last two contests, Ibaka totaled just 34.4 FanDuel points in the 43.8 minutes he played, a 0.79 FanDuel points per minute rate. While we can’t expect the center to perform at either extreme on Friday, we can assume he will see reduced minutes again as the Raptors are likely to start Gasol against the bigger Jusuf Nurkic and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Also hurting Ibaka’s chance for success on Friday is the Raps-Blazers game holds the lowest over/under of the slate while the Blazers limit opposing centers to the third-fewest FanDuel points per minute of the 14 teams in action tonight.
Tomas Satoransky, PG, Washignton Wizards
FanDuel Price: $5,400
While all seven games on Friday’s slate have no glaring bad spots, if there were one team to shy away from it would be the Washington Wizards. The Wiz are in a tight spot against the Boston Celtics, against whom they own the third-lowest implied point total of the day (113.25) and are the largest underdogs (+8.5) of the slate. Even as the Celtics slump -- losing four of five -- they own a better than average defensive rating and allow the fourth-fewest points per game in those five contests.
That leaves an inconsistent Tomas Satoransky in an unfavorable spot, especially since the C’s allow the second-fewest FanDuel points per minute to point guards.
Over his last five games, Satoransky has been up and down, collecting 25 or fewer FanDuel points three times including in two of his previous three. He is averaging 11.3 points and 5.7 assists in the three games. With the problematic matchup on tap for Friday, Satoransky’s ceiling is reasonably low. His floor is too as in his only meeting with Boston this season, the point guard dropped seven points, three assists, and 13.5 FanDuel points in 26.6 minutes of action.
Kent Bazemore, SG, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $5,200
After starting the first three games following the All-Star Break, and averaging a respectable 16.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 26.6 FanDuel points per game, Kent Bazemore came off the bench on Wednesday with disastrous results. The Atlanta Hawks' guard went 0-for-12 from the floor for 0 points in 14.2 minutes of action. He finished with 12.0 FanDuel points -- thanks to five rebounds and four assists -- his fourth-lowest total of the season.
While no one can expect a repeat performance on Friday, Bazemore is likely to continue seeing below 20 minutes of action as Taurean Prince and Kevin Huerter are healthy and expected to remain in the starting lineup against the Chicago Bulls.
In the 12 games Bazemore has played fewer than 20 minutes, he scored more than 15.6 FanDuel points just three times (25%). Another dose of limited minutes is likely on Friday against a Bulls team that is on a roll -- winners of four of their last five. Over those five games, the Bulls have stepped up their defense, ranking in the top-10 in points allowed as they slowed down their pace to the seventh-slowest in the league.
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.
