NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 12/21/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Dec 21st, 2016
Darren Collison has a tough matchup against the Utah Jazz, who have bottled up point guards this season and play at the league's slowest pace.

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 only takes one player to sink a lineup. Searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.

Harrison Barnes, SF, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Price: $6,300

Harrison Barnes is in a tough spot tonight for the Dallas Mavericks. He gets to play the Portland Trail Blazers, who are in the second night of a back-to-back set. In addition to that, the Blazers' have a horrific defense. With all that said, Barnes has a tough individual matchup against Maurice Harkless.

Harkless has been a nice addition to the starting lineup for Portland this season, and his defense is a big reason why. He is holding players he defends to just 43.4% shooting from the floor and 49.1% shooting from within 10 feet from the basket.

This has helped the Blazers' defense against small forwards, and our models project Barnes for only 28.1 FanDuel points, making him a potential landmine on Wednesday's slate.

Darren Collison, PG, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $5,300

Darren Collison has been struggling lately with his shot. He owns a 27.6% effective field goal percentage over his last four games, and tonight he is up against the slowest-paced team in the league, the Utah Jazz.

While George Hill and his strong defense are still sidelined, the Jazz have enough to throw at Collison. They are holding opposing point guards to only 0.76 FanDuel points per minute, which is the best mark in the league.

Dante Exum has helped with that, too. Even though his offense is still a work in progress, his defense is borderline elite, which is one of the reasons Utah drafted him. Exum is holding players he defends to just 40.0% shooting from the floor and 34.9% shooting from deep. With Collison struggling, don't go there tonight on the second half of a back-to-back.

Tristan Thompson, C, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $4,800

Tristan Thompson had a fine double-double last night against the Milwaukee Bucks. But Kevin Love may return tonight as the Cleveland Cavaliers head back home to play the Bucks again.

Thompson plays well when Love is out. He is averaging 24.3 FanDuel points per game in the last two games without Love. According to NBA Wowy, Thompson is posting 1.10 points per shot attempt with Love on the court and 1.21 when he is off it.

Love might be out again tonight, which could keep Thompson in play, but if Love returns, it will likely put a damper on Thompson's production.