NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/26/19

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Mar 26th, 2019
D.J. Augustin has come up short when facing the Heat this season and will likely struggle once again on Tuesday. Who else should you stay away from 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?

Willie Cauley-Stein, C, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $6,500

Over the last week-plus, Willie Cauley-Stein has had some impressive fantasy performances, but with his minutes starting to dry up in Sacramento, it is hard to trust the big man in DFS.

The emergence of Harry Giles and Marvin Bagley III in the Kings’ frontcourt has limited WCS to fewer than 20 minutes of action in four of his last five games. Even with Giles banged up and missing the previous two games, Cauley-Stein saw a reduced role as Sacramento went with a small-ball lineup. Facing an undersized Dallas Mavericks team on Tuesday, expect another round of low minutes for Cauley-Stein, even with Giles doubtful to play.

As one would expect, when WCS gets limited minutes, he doesn’t produce in fantasy. In the 11 games WCS has played fewer than 20 minutes this season, he has six games with fewer than 18.5 FanDuel points while posting only one with more than 28.5.

With a wealth of center options available to choose from on Tuesday, there is no reason to risk it with Cauley-Stein.

D.J. Augustin, PG, Orlando Magic

FanDuel Price: $6,200

D.J. Augustin had his impressive run of fantasy production come to a screeching halt last night as he finished with 4 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists in 24.8 minutes, posting just 14.4 FanDuel points against the Philadelphia 76ers. In the point guard's previous five games, he had averaged 33.6 FanDuel points per night. While we can chalk up some of the lousy night to the blowout status of the game -- the Magic won by 21 -- the performance helps temper expectations for Augustin heading into a problematic matchup with the Miami Heat.

Miami has held point guards to the fewest FanDuel points per minute (0.87) on Tuesday's slate and the second-fewest in the NBA this season. Their defense also carries a top-nine defensive rating (107.4) while they have limited opponents to just 105.9 points per game, the third-fewest in the league this year.

Augustin knows all about the challenges of facing the Heat defense. In his three previous meetings, Orlando's floor general has failed to surpass 19 FanDuel points in each game. He has averaged an underwhelming 9.7 points, 3.0 assists, and 16.1 FanDuel points in 24.1 minutes against Miami this season.

Cedi Osman, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $5,900

After coming out of the All-Star break hot -- eight outings of 30-plus FanDuel points in a 13-game span -- Cedi Osman has cooled off considerably over the last week.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' forward has collected fewer than 16 FanDuel points in each of his previous three games despite averaging over 32.5 minutes per game. Osman has averaged just 9.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in those three while racking up 11 fouls in his last two contests. While we can pin some the struggles on a pair of difficult matchups against the Milwaukee Bucks, Tuesday won't get any easier against the Boston Celtics.

Boston looks like they will be at near full-strength on Tuesday with Jayson Tatum and Al Horford looking likely to play after sitting out recently (Kyrie Irving is out, which doesn't impact Cedi's situation too much). Their presence will help maintain the C's tough stance against opposing small forwards this season. Boston has limited the position to the eighth-fewest FanDuel points per minute (0.84) in 2018-19.


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.