NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players to Avoid on 10/24/18

Dale Redman  —  @DTRedman Oct 24th, 2018
Dennis Smith's shot hasn't been falling much this season, making it best to stay away. Who else are we avoiding in DFS on Wednesday?

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?

Draymond Green, PF, Golden State Warriors

FanDuel Price: $7,700

It could be because of the knee injury he suffered in training camp, but Draymond Green has gotten off to a slow start for the Golden State Warriors this season. Through four games, the power forward is averaging only 6.3 points per game on 34.6% shooting. He is 1-for-7 from three and is taken a smaller role in the offense, posting a 15.2% usage rate, his lowest mark in five seasons. In the past, Green has been able to be excel in DFS even when his shots don't fall thanks to his ability to fill up a stat sheet. This year, however, he has been off his game in assists (5.8) and blocks (0.5) while committing an average of 4.0 turnovers per game.

Dray is averaging just 28.7 FanDuel points in 31.8 minutes per night. That's sub-4.0 dollars to points value this season. Facing a Washington Wizards' team at home on Wednesday, where the Warriors are 10.0 point favorites, Green may see limited minutes if this game gets out of hand as well. On Monday with the Dubs up big on the Phoenix Suns, he played in a season-low 27 with a usage rate of just 11.2%.

Dennis Smith, PG, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Price: $6,900

Through three games, Dennis Smith's shot has been tanking his fantasy fortunes. While he is getting plenty of run in the Dallas Mavericks' offense -- 21-plus% usage rate and double-digit shot attempts in all three games -- the second-year guard is sinking only 34.1% of his shots from the floor for an average of 13.0 points per game. His woes culminated in a dismal 2-for-11 shooting night for 7 points against the soft Chicago Bulls' defense on Monday night. Smith added minimal other stats with 1 rebound and 3 assists for a wretched 8.7 FanDuel points.

On Wednesday, Dallas has one of the more favorable offensive matchups versus the Atlanta Hawks, and they own the second-highest implied point total of the night. While overall, the Hawks' defense has had their problems this season, they have been quite tough against point guards this season, allowing just 0.8 FanDuel points per minute to point guards -- the seventh-best mark in the league. Add that in with Smith's failure to produce, and it's best to steer clear of the high-flyer on Wednesday.

Buddy Hield, SG, Sacramento Kings

FanDuel Price: $5,900

Even with Buddy Hield in the Sacramento Kings' starting lineup for the first four games of the season, the shooting guard has not been allowed to run wild. He has seen an average of 26.3 minutes per game. That's just a slight uptick from the 24.1 minutes per game he averaged as a sixth-man his first two seasons. The sharpshooter has been on point this year too, sinking 51.1% of his shots including 46.7% of his threes. The problem in DFS, besides his limited minutes, has been his lack of stats beyond points. Hield is averaging 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game with a total of just one steal and two blocks in four games so far. That has left him coming up short in FanDuel points, averaging just 22.3 per night. Being that dependent on scoring tanks his fantasy outlook in tough matchups like Wednesday's.

With the Kings facing a plodding Memphis Grizzlies' squad on Wednesday, Hield will be in a tight spot to do much. The Grizzlies surrender the fourth-fewest points per game (104.0) while playing at the second-slowest pace in the league. With Garrett Temple at the two-guard, Memphis has been stingy to opposing shooting guards, giving up 0.75 FanDuel points per minute to the position -- the third-lowest in the league this year.

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.