NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/25/19

A tough matchup against the Magic puts Tobias Harris in a bad spot on Monday. Who else should you stay away from on this four-game slate?

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?

Tobias Harris, PF, Philadelphia 76ers

FanDuel Price: $7,500

On Monday’s small four-game slate, there are a limited number of usable power forward options. Tobias Harris is not one of them.

While it may seem like a sweet spot in a revenge game versus the Orlando Magic, Harris is facing the second-best team in the NBA against power forwards in terms of fantasy production as Orlando has limited the position to 0.88 FanDuel points per minute. The Magic have also been playing lights out D since the All-Star break, leading the league in points allowed (103.8) and sitting second in defensive rating (104.5).

Even taking the tough opponent out of the equation, Harris has been hard to trust recently, especially with Joel Embiid on the court. Harris has averaged a shade more than 1.0 FanDuel points per minute and a 22.7% usage rate with the Philadelphia 76ers' big man sidelined. When Embiid plays, though, Harris has seen his usage rate drop to 16.7% and his fantasy production slide to 0.89 FanDuel points per minute. In the last five games the two have played together, Harris has finished with fewer than 29.5 FanDuel points three times while averaging just 30.4 FanDuel points per game.

Jonathan Isaac, SF, Orlando Magic

FanDuel Price: $5,900

Jonathan Isaac’s ability to fill up a stat sheet makes him a dangerous fantasy player, especially in soft matchups. However, his inability to score consistently makes him one of the more frustrating DFS plays as well as a guy to avoid on Monday.

Over his last six games, Isaac is shooting just 34.0% from the field including 25.0% on 4.7 three-point attempts per game. He is averaging only 8.7 real-world points in the last two weeks while scoring more than 11 points just once in the six contests. That has left him with fewer than 25 FanDuel points in four those games.

Facing the Sixers on Monday won’t help Isaac rack up buckets, either. Philadelphia ranks third on the NBA in three-point defense since the break, limiting opponents to 31.4% shooting from three in that span. Isaac averages 3.3 three-point attempts per game this season, accounting for roughly 41% of his shots. In three meetings with Philly this season, Isaac has averaged just 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks for 21.0 FanDuel points per game.

Caris LeVert, SG, Brooklyn Nets

FanDuel Price: $5,000

Caris LeVert’s price tag in DFS keeps dropping, but that doesn’t make him a value play on Monday. Over his last seven games, including three starts, LeVert has been downright awful. The Brooklyn Nets' guard is averaging only 6.6 points in 24.1 minutes per game as he's shot just 31.4% from the floor and 5.9% from three. That includes an ugly 0-for-6 performance against the woeful Lakers on Friday night. He scored zero points in that one and finished with just 13.1 FanDuel points. It was his fifth game of fewer than 20 FanDuel points across his last seven outings.

Until LeVert breaks out of his slump, he is unusable in fantasy.

Monday night does not have the makings of a bounce back, either, as he squares off with the Portland Trail Blazers. Since losing C.J. McCollum to a knee injury, Portland has slowed up their game, playing at the eighth-slowest pace in the league over their last three. They have surrendered the ninth-fewest points per game with McCollum out, as well.



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.