3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 10/31/16

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 tonight in your DFS NBA lineups, but what about some 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 each night. After all, it takes only one player to sink a lineup.

With a small slate of NBA games on tonight, searching for the landmines could mean the difference from winning or losing your contests.

DeMarcus Cousins, C, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $9,900

It's probably hard to fade DeMarcus Cousins after his performances against the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves, but tonight, he has to face off against Dwight Howard and the Atlanta Hawks. Cousins, who needs roughly 50 points to hit value, could wind up a landmine for several reasons, but the biggest may be that Howard, now healthy, has turned back into a great defensive player once again.

Howard is holding players he defends to only 33.3% shooting from the floor so far this season. Within six feet from the hoop, that number drops to 30.0% shooting. It's still very early in the season, but Howard's fresh legs aren't the only thing keeping Cousins down tonight. The Hawks and Howard are holding centers to only 0.88 FanDuel points per minute this season. With the history between these two centers, Cousins may have a tough time hitting value.

In their 11 games against one another in their careers, Cousins has never had more than 45.2 FanDuel points, and he is averaging only 31.1 FanDuel points in those 11 games. This is in part because of Howard's defense, but it's also due to Cousins' defense on the other end.

In those 11 games, Cousins is averaging more than six fouls per 36 minutes. He fouled out in three of those games and had five fouls in three more. With Howard back to being a force in the middle and with Cousins already averaging 5.0 fouls per 36 minutes this season, fading Cousins on a small slate is defensible from a game theory standpoint even with his big usage rate.

Rajon Rondo, PG, Chicago Bulls

FanDuel Price: $7,300

The start to Rajon Rondo's season with the Chicago Bulls has been slow going so far, but tonight he gets a matchup with the lowly Brooklyn Nets. With the shorter slate and not as many options at point guard, Rondo might be a popular play tonight despite his shooting struggles.

The biggest problem with Rondo on FanDuel -- outside of his limited offense so far -- has been his his turnovers. He had four turnovers in 25 minutes against the Indiana Pacers, and with Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade both spending a lot of time with the ball in their hands, Rondo's upside is almost non-existent.

Especially at his price of $7300, Rondo is not the point guard you're looking for tonight. He is going to spend most of his night trying to stay in front of Jeremy Lin, and even if he does have a bounce back game, Rondo needs between 35 and 40 FanDuel points to separate himself from the field on Monday's four-game slate. With Kyle Lowry and Eric Bledsoe only $100 more and Dennis Schroder $1,000 less, don't roster Rondo.

Tyson Chandler, C, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $4,200

On a four-game slate, being contrarian is a huge part of potentially winning or losing your tournaments on Monday -- which, again, is a reason to consider fading Cousins. After a solid performance last night, Tyson Chandler may be a seemingly sneaky selection on a slate with some good centers. However, coming off the back-to-back is not the time to target an aging center like Chandler.

Last season, Chandler barely saw the court on the second night of back-to-back games. He had some nice performances, but more often than not, if he played big minutes the night before, he saw his minutes and production go down on the next night.

There is also the factor of facing the Los Angeles Clippers and DeAndre Jordan. If this game gets out of hand, Chandler and his big contract are going straight to the bench. Plus, Jordan held players he defended to only 43.4% shooting from the floor last season, and with Chandler coming in on no rest, don't expect a huge performance from him as a cheap center.