NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 3/11/19

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Mar 11th, 2019
With Montrezl Harrell seeing fewer minutes and facing an unfavorable matchup agianst the Celtics, he is one to stay away from tonight. Who else are we avoiding on Monday's DFS slate?

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?

Montrezl Harrell, PF, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $7,200

While Montrezl Harrell is amid a breakout season with the Los Angeles Clippers, he is going through a bit of a lull as we wind down 2019.

The big man has seen reduced minutes since the All-Star break thanks to the acquisition of Ivica Zubac, playing under 25 in two of his last three games and under 27 in five of his previous eight. The limited action has affected Harrell's fantasy production as the former Houston Rocket has posted under 30 FanDuel points in five of the last seven games and is coming off a 19.2 FanDuel point performance on Friday. In that game, he saw just seven shots ending up with a weak line of eight points, six rebounds, two assists, and one block in 24.7 minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Monday could be more of the same as he faces a Boston Celtics team that has held opposing centers -- where Harrell has played 96% of his minutes -- to the third-fewest Fanduel points per minute in the league and the fewest of the 12 teams in action tonight.

Marc Gasol, C, Toronto Raptors

FanDuel Price: $6,000

Marc Gasol's trade to the Toronto Raptors, while good for his NBA career, has been a disaster for his fantasy value.

In the 11 games Gasol has played for the Raptors, he has seen his minutes drop to 23.0 per game, and his usage rate falls to 19.2%. When on the court, Gasol has been the fourth option -- behind Kyle Lowry, Kawhi Leonard, and Pascal Siakam. While his efficiency has increased with fewer touches, Gasol merely is not racking up enough stats, especially when coming off the bench, which he is likely to do on Monday.

Gasol and Serge Ibaka have been rotating starts at center based on matchups. With the Raps facing the Cleveland Cavaliers and the more agile Kevin Love, Ibaka is likely to get the nod tonight. In the seven games Gasol has come off the bench, he is averaging just 20.0 minutes, 7.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 22.9 FanDuel points.

Making matters worse for Gasol on Monday is the expected low score. With a slate-low 221.5 over/under, there may not be enough points to go around to make Gasol worthwhile in fantasy, especially in a reserve role.

Collin Sexton, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers

FanDuel Price: $5,400

Collin Sexton, like most rookies, has had an up-and-down season. The Cavaliers' point guard has struggled at times to find his game while on other nights going off and showing off the talent that made him the eighth-overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. His last six games have been the perfect example of how his first season in the Association has gone.

In two of the games, he looked the part, dropping 22-plus points, including an impressive 27 against a tough Miami Heat defense the last time out. However, in the other four games, Sexton has struggled with all aspects of his game, finishing with fewer than 24 FanDuel points in each game. In those contests, the point guard averaged a solid 14.0 points a night but needed 13.5 shots a game to reach the modest total. Sexton also finished with more total turnovers than assists (9 to 8), ending up with an average of 19.9 FanDuel points in over 31 minutes per night.

With the Cavs owning the lowest implied point total of the night, there is not much hope for a big game versus the Toronto Raptors, especially with Lowry making it difficult for opposing point guards by limiting the position to the sixth-lowest FanDuel points per minute 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.