NBA

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

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jan 18th, 2018
Jeff Teague has been playing well of late, but he has a tough matchup against Chris Paul. Which other players should you avoid tonight?

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?

Jeff Teague, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves

FanDuel Price: $6,800

Jeff Teague has been playing well lately, averaging 15.7 points 7.3 assists, and 2.7 steals over his last three games. However, tonight he goes head-to-head with Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets, which is not a great matchup for the Minnesota Timberwolves' point guard.

The Rockets are limiting opposing point guards to 0.87 FanDuel points per minute, which ranks 10th-best in the NBA, according to our defense-versus-position matchup chart. Furthermore, Paul is holding players he defends to 36.1% shooting outside of 15 feet, and in 13 career meetings against Paul, Teague is shooting 42.9% from the floor and has turned the ball over 14 times in their last three games against one another.

Eric Gordon, SG, Houston Rockets

FanDuel Price: $6,800

Eric Gordon has been playing out of his mind with James Harden out of the lineup, but Harden is making his return tonight, which could have a negative impact on Gordon's fantasy value.

Even though Harden is expected to play only 25 or so minutes, his return could eat directly in to Gordon's shots. According to NBA Wowy, with Harden on the court and Trevor Ariza (suspended) off, Gordon has a 24.1% usage rate, compared to a usage rate of 38.0% when Harden and Ariza are off the court.

Even though Houston will be a team to target for value tonight, Gordon may not be the best way to take advantage of the absences of Ariza and Gerald Green.

Robert Covington, SF, Philadelphia 76ers

FanDuel Price: $5,300

Robert Covington is a really good player, but he is not the type of guy you want to take a risk on tonight in DFS cash games. It's possible he plays well enough to be a good tournament play, but he's still a big risk against the Boston Celtics.

Boston is holding small forwards to 0.76 FanDuel points per minute this season, and if Covington is defended again by Jayson Tatum, it could turn ugly. Tatum is limiting players he defends to 44.0% shooting from the floor, and Covington is averaging just 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds against the Celtics this season while shooting a combined 11 for 31 (35.5%) in those games.



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.