NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 2/7/19

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Feb 7th, 2019
Jerami Grant faces a daunting task versus Jaren Jackson's elite defense on Thursday. Who joins Grant as a player to avoid tonight in NBA DFS?

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?

Terry Rozier, PG, Boston Celtics

FanDuel Price: $7,000

When Kyrie Irving sits, Terry Rozier is typically a stud in DFS. On Tuesday, though, Rozier flopped hard, posting just 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists for 24.0 FanDuel points in 32.2 minutes as the Boston Celtics’ starting point guard. Thursday night, Irving is expected to be back in the lineup against the Los Angeles Lakers. That limits Rozier’s potential even further as he averages only 18.5 FanDuel points per game in a bench role, compared to 34.7 as a starter.

But on the off chance Irving doesn’t suit up, Rozier’s performance -- and lofty price tag -- over the last three games should make you stay away.

Tuesday’s dud against the Cleveland Cavaliers was Rozier’s third consecutive game with fewer than 25 FanDuel points. In that span, he's shot 34.6% from the floor while posting a sub-20% usage rate in 24.6 minutes of action per game. The Lakers have played tough D against point guards this season, as well, surrendering 0.89 FanDuel points per minute to the position, a bottom-nine rate in the NBA.

The tough matchup and likely reduced workload makes Rozier way too rich for our blood on Thursday.

Jerami Grant, PF, Oklahoma City Thunder

FanDuel Price: $5,900

Jerami Grant has been playing well as of late, posting at least 35 FanDuel points in three of his last five games as he has averaged 15.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks since January 27th. Thursday night, though, he will have one of the toughest individual matchups of the day as he faces off with Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Opposing power forwards have been virtually shut down in fantasy against the Grizzlies thanks to Jackson’s elite rim protection. The rookie is holding those he defends to a 50.8% shooting percentage on shots 6 feet or closer to the rim. That is 12.0 percentage points lower than expected. He ranks seventh in the NBA with a 5.4% block percentage. Power forwards against the Grizzlies have averaged 0.84 FanDuel points per minute, by far the lowest rate in the league this season.

Grant’s two most recent duds in fantasy came against tough frontcourts as he posted 24.6 FanDuel points against Boston and 19.9 versus the Miami Heat.

Kyle Kuzma, PF, Los Angeles Lakers

FanDuel Price: $5,400

Kyle Kuzma missed two games last week with a hip injury but has managed to play the previous three games. Maybe he shouldn't have.

In those contests, the Lakers' forward has averaged just 11.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game on 39.0% shooting from the field and 27.3% from three. He finished with fewer than 20 FanDuel points in all three games. The off nights started before his injury as Kuzma has averaged 17.0 FanDuel points in his last five games. That includes three games without LeBron James. Now that James is back in action, Kuzma's role will be reduced to complimentary scorer. He averaged only 10.5 shots in the last two games with James.

Also limiting his chances for a breakout on Thursday is an unfavorable matchup with the Celtics. Not only is Boston in the top three of defensive rating (104.9) and field goal percentage allowed (44.1%), power forwards have averaged just 0.90 FanDuel points per minute against the Celtics, the fourth-lowest rate 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.