3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 11/1/18
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?
Eric Bledsoe, PG, Milwaukee Bucks
FanDuel Price: $7,800
Over the last week, the usually reliable Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe has posted a couple of duds. In a soft matchup versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, Bledsoe registered a season-low 22.7 FanDuel points as he scored just six points with four turnovers. The next night, against another seemingly easy opponent, the Orlando Magic, Bledsoe dropped only 20.8 FanDuel points. While game flow helped limit the point guard's production, the performances were still disappointing. Facing a stingy Boston Celtics defense on Thursday, Bledsoe is poised to have another rough night.
Boston has held opponents to a league-low 97.3 points per game, as they own a league-best 96.3 defensive rating. They rank second, to the Bucks coincidentally, with opposing teams shooting 41.0% from the floor. Point guards have struggled mightily against the C's, too, scoring just 0.80 FanDuel points per minute, the third-lowest rate in the league. The recent disappointments plus the tough matchup leaves Bledsoe at the top of our avoids list for Thursday.
Taurean Prince, SF, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $6,900
After obliterating the competition to the tune of 20.6 points and 32.7 FanDuel points per game in his first five games of the season, Taurean Prince has disappeared over the last pair of games. The Atlanta Hawks' small forward has gone cold from the floor, sinking just 4 of his last 24 shot attempts for a horrific 17.4% field goal percentage. The dismal shooting has limited his playing time (25.9 minutes per game) and scoring (14 total points), with his fantasy production understandably suffering (15.5 FanDuel points). Facing a surprisingly solid Sacramento Kings' defense on Thursday may not be the cure-all fantasy owners hope.
Even with the Kings running at the second-fastest pace, they have been able to limit opposing small forwards to just 0.89 FanDuel points per minute. They have an above-average and efficient defense (108.6 defensive rating) to thank for that. So, even in the seemingly juicy matchup, it's best to leave Prince out of your DFS lineups.
Gordon Hayard, SF, Boston Celtics
FanDuel Price: $5,400
When looking for mid-priced options to play in Thursday's six-game slate, Gordon Hayward may seem like a good choice, based on name alone. However, The Celtics forward remains on a 25-minute limit on Thursday and has one of the tougher matchups of the day.
Hayward has only played more than 25 minutes one time this season, and it was 25.9 against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Due to the restrictions, the small forward has struggled to find any rhythm, sinking just 40.7% of his shots. The inefficient scoring has left Hayward as a dud in DFS, averaging only 17.8 FanDuel points per night over his last four games played. If you think he will get on track soon, you may not be wrong, but I'd bet against it happening on Thursday against the Bucks.
Milwaukee owns the second-best defensive rating (98.2) in the league and has been holding opponents to a league-low 39.4% shooting from the floor. Small forwards have had a rough go against the Bucks, too, averaging 0.75 FanDuel points per minute, the third-lowest mark in the league this season.
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.
