NBA

3 Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 12/14/18

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Dec 14th, 2018
Trae Young has been an inconsistant option in DFS and faces an elite Celtics' D. Who else are we staying away from on Friday?

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?

Trae Young, PG, Atlanta Hawks

FanDuel Price: $6,600

Like most rookies, Trae Young has been inconsistent in DFS. While he went off for 43.0 FanDuel points against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, that was just his first game with over 23.9 FanDuel points since late-November.

In the four games before Wednesday, the Atlanta Hawks' guard averaged 13.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 4.8 turnovers, and 20.4 FanDuel points. He shot just 31.7% from the field and 14.3% from three during the stretch -- not unfamiliar territory for the rookie as he is shooting only 38.2% for the year. On Friday night, he faces a tough Boston Celtics team that has shut down point guards on the regular in DFS this season.

The Celtics surrender 0.86 FanDuel points per minute to the position, the eighth-lowest rate in the NBA, thanks to a top-five defense. Boston ranks fifth or better in defensive rating (100.8), points allowed (103.6), opponents field goal (43.9%), and three-point (32.1%) percentage. In his only meeting with the C’s, back on November 23, Young posted a career-low 8.0 FanDuel points.

Josh Richardson, SF, Miami Heat

FanDuel Price: $6,400

Josh Richardson can’t seem to shake the horrendous shooting slump he has been stuck in for the last few weeks.

In his last eight games, the Miami Heat wing is sinking just 30.3% of his 14.9 shot attempts per game. He is averaging only 14.0 points per game during the run. Instead of showing signs of a breakout looming, things have gotten worse for Richardson over his last five games, failing to eclipse 25.1 FanDuel points as he has made just 16-of-61 attempts (26.2%). Unfortunately for him, the struggles are likely to continue with the Memphis Grizzlies on tap for Friday.

Memphis holds opponents to just 44.6% shooting from the field, the sixth-lowest rate in the NBA. The duo of Garrett Temple and Kyle Anderson spell doom for Richardson as they hold those they defend to below average three-point shooting. Temple, in particular, is restricting opponents to 30.0% from beyond the arc in his last 10 games. Averaging just 0.81 FanDuel points per minute, small forward post the seventh-lowest rate against Memphis this season.

Trey Lyles, PF, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Price: $5,200

With Paul Millsap lost for four-plus weeks with a broken toe, Trey Lyles has an increased opportunity in Denver. In the last two games, though, The Nuggets forward has not done much with it.

Getting the first shot to replace Millsap in the starting lineup, Lyles played heavy minutes last Saturday -- 38.5 -- but managed just 9 points and 10 rebounds for just 0.75 FanDuel points per minute. The next game, he moved back to the bench, seeing only 23.4 minutes as Mason Plumlee got the nod at power forward. Lyles logged 21.4 FanDuel points in that contest. Facing the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, it is unclear if Lyles will start. Even if he does, he is facing a tough OKC frontcourt.

The Thunder own the best defensive rating (101.9) in the league this season and rank in the top-seven in rebound percentage (51.8%). Those two factors combined have left power forward averaging just 0.95 FanDuel points per minute, a below average rate in the NBA. The last time, Lyles faced the Thunder, he posted 21.3 FanDuel points, a solid total but leaving him at a less than optimal value on Friday.

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.