NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 1/4/18

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jan 4th, 2018
There aren't many players that you can outright fade on a two-game slate, but here are three to lessen your exposure to on Thursday night.

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?

DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $7,300

On a two-game slate, there aren't many players that you can outright fade, especially when you're playing multiple lineups. However, DeAndre Jordan might be a player to lessen your exposure to.

Even though Jordan has shown no signs of slowing down with Blake Griffin in the lineup, he is up against a tough matchup in Steven Adams that could limit his upside tonight.

In his last four games against Adams, Jordan is averaging 28.4 FanDuel points per game, and with the Oklahoma City Thunder holding centers to 1.02 FanDuel points per minute, Jordan isn't a player you'll want heavy exposure to.

Steven Adams, C, Oklahoma City Thunder

FanDuel Price: $6,500

On the other side of that matchup is Adams, who also doesn't have a very good fantasy outlook on Thursday going up against Jordan.

Adams is averaging just 17.7 FanDuel points per game in his last five games against Jordan, and for his career in 13 games against Jordan, he's averaging 5.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in about 25 minutes per contest.

With Jordan holding players he defends to 45.7% shooting overall and 54.1% shooting inside of 10 feet, Adams also doesn't have enough upside to warrant rostering in your center spot on FanDuel.

Trevor Ariza, SF, Houston Rockets

FanDuel Price: $6,000

Trevor Ariza currently ranks 12th in the league at 36.0 minutes per game, and now that we've reached the dog days of January, the 32-year-old veteran swingman might start to see his performance suffer on the second night of back-to-back sets.

Ariza played 33 minutes in the Houston Rockets' blowout win on Wednesday, but he also put up a dud in the Rockets' last game on no rest, shooting 3-for-11 from the floor, and just 1-for-9 from downtown.

Ariza also has to contend with guarding, and being defended by Kevin Durant tonight. With the Warriors holding small forwards to just 0.78 FanDuel points per minute, Ariza could have a hard time putting up FanDuel points. In 26 career matchups against Durant, Ariza is shooting just 39.4% from the floor.


Jordan Sharp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jordan Sharp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TEHSHARP. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.