Searching For the Free Square
In the game of Bingo, every card gets an empty spot in the middle called the “Free Square”. Since it’s the middle square, the free square is essentially the ideal spot from which to build lines around. In DFS we define the Free Square as the player to build your lineups around. Generally, this player represents the closest we can find to a sure thing for the slate. This column is all about trying to identify the free square for a particular slate. Very often, this will be a low-cost player thrust into a starting role and sure to make or exceed value. The type of player that allows us to load up the rest of our lineup with high salary studs. Occasionally it will be a high priced stud in a great spot, The goal of this column is to use quantitative data to identify the free square for the days Daily Fantasy Basketball slate. Each slate we will take a deep look at three or four players which represent outsized value on the day’s slate of games and choose the one which best represents the top value and floor play to earn the title of the slates Free Square
Recap
Let’s take a look at how our free squares did last night. Our first free square of the night was Willie Cauley-Stein who ended up with 22.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 3.8x value. Our second free square of the night was J.J. Barea who ended up with right around 48.75 DKFP which was good enough for right around 10.4x value. Our final free square of the night was Chris Paul who ended up with right around 37.0 DKFP which was good enough for 4.1x value.
(Sign up for a DFS ARMY VIP MEMBERSHIP today!)
(Follow me on Twitter!)
Tonight
We have a huge slate ahead of us for Wednesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: New Orleans Pelicans (119), Golden State Warriors (116), Houston Rockets (115). The highest priced players on the slate are Anthony Davis, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.
- Spencer Dinwiddie PG/SG BKN ($6,600)
- Spencer Dinwiddie and the Brooklyn Nets will take on the Indiana Pacers at home tonight. The Nets have an implied total sitting at right around 105-points and they are currently 4.0-point underdogs. The Nets have been playing at a pace of right around 102.8 and the Pacers have been playing at a pace of right around 99.5. This is going to be a pace down game for the Nets and Dinwiddie tonight. In saying that I still like his price and the spot he is in tonight. Dinwiddie is likely going to be guarded by Cory Joseph who is an atrocious defender. Look for Dinwiddie to have a solid offensive night tonight. Dinwiddie has the following stats on the season so far this year: 28.6 MPG, 3.3 RPG, 6.7 APG, .3 BLKPG, 13.7 PPG, 30.4 FPPG, and a 1.06 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 37.116 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.63x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. Dinwiddie has a solid matchup tonight and I think he puts together a great offensive outing against a weak defender. Load him up as a mid-tier guard with upside tonight.
- Brook Lopez C LAL ($5,000)
- Brook Lopez and the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on the road tonight. The Lakers have an implied total sitting at right around 113-points and they are currently 5.5-point underdogs. The Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 105.1 and the Pelicans have been playing at a pace of right around 104.4. This is a matchup between two of the fastest teams in the league tonight. Look at this game as a daily fantasy gold mine tonight. Lopez is likely going to be guarded by Anthony Davis tonight who is a solid defender. Lopez has the following stats on the season so far this year: 21.2 MPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.3 BLKPG, .4 STLPG, 12.0 PPG, 22.8 FPPG, and a 1.08 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 28.87 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.77x value. He is projected to play right around 27 minutes tonight. This is going to be a high scoring and fast paced game tonight. Lopez should see a ton of fantasy opportunities tonight and I think he crushes his value. Load him up as a lower priced center on Draftkings tonight.
- Isaiah Thomas PG/SG LAL ($5,800)
- Isaiah Thomas and the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on the road tonight. The Lakers have an implied total sitting at right around 113-points and they are currently 5.5-point underdogs. As stated in the Lopez writeup the Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 105.1 and the Pelicans have been playing at a pace of right around 104.4. This is a matchup between two of the fastest teams in the league tonight. Thomas should see some decent run in the game and a lot of fantasy opportunities. Thomas is likely going to be coming off the bench tonight but it has been stated that he is going to see quite a bit of minutes. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 27.2 MPG, 2.0 RPG, 4.6 APG, .1 BLKPG, .6 STLPG, 15.2 PPG, 25.5 FPPG, and a .94 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 37.726 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.5x value. He is projected to see right around 32 minutes tonight. It’s been a rough year for Isaiah this season, but I think he will finish the year strong in Los Angeles the rest of the way. He is coming to be coming off the bench and has a green light to go out and score which is great for DFS purposes. Load him up as a mid-tier guard with a ton of upside tonight on Draftkings.
Free Square of the Night
We have a decent slate tonight with some good tournaments across the industry. I hope I have narrowed down some guys that we can look to target. We have tons of tools and content available at the DFS Army this year for NBA so don’t miss out on all of those opportunities to make some money. Click the link “DFS Army VIP Membership” and sign up and join the Army today! With my ultimate free square pick, I am going to go with Isaiah Thomas tonight! Good luck Army!
(Sign up for a DFS ARMY VIP MEMBERSHIP today!)
(Follow me on Twitter!)
Do you want access to the most advanced Daily Fantasy Basketball tools in the industry? How about the chance to talk player picks and lineups with our NBA DFS Pros and like-minded players? DFS Army VIP Members get all of that PLUS access to our best in the industry projections and optimization tools. Go to DFS Army VIP membership and join the Army today! You won’t find a better deal or a better DFS team to join!