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
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Recap
For our free squares last night we had J.J. Redick who ended up with right around 27.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 6x value. Our second free square was Trevor Ariza who ended up with right around 30.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 6.5x value. Our last free square of the night is Lebron James who ended up with right around 48.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 4.5x value.
Tonight
We have a good sized slate on the docket for Friday. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows Orlando Magic (115), Portland Trailblazers (114), and the Phoenix Suns (111). The highest priced players of the night are Russell Westbrook, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Damian Lillard.
Free Squares
- Evan Turner SG/SF POR ($4,200)
- Evan Turners and the Portland Trailblazers will take on the Brooklyn Nets tonight at home. The Trailblazers have an implied total sitting at right around 114-points and they are currently 8.5-point favorites. The Trailblazers have been playing at a pace of right around 101.6 and the Brooklyn Nets have the fastest pace in the league playing at right around 110.2. This will be quite a bit faster game than the Trailblazers are used to playing in which should have a positive fantasy impact on them tonight. Turner comes off the bench so he should have no trouble scoring against a bad Brooklyn defense. Turner has the following stats on the season so far: 29.0 MPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, .8 BLKPG, 1.0 STLPG, 9.3 PPG, 22.0 FPPG, and a .76 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 22.143 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.27x value. We have him slated for right around 28 minutes. I think Turners is going to be able to take advantage of the Brooklyn bench tonight. He is affordable, in a good spot, and gets a healthy amount of minutes. Load him up as either a value forward or guard on Draftkings tonight.
- T.J. Warren SF/PF ($6,300)
- TJ Warren and the Phoenix Suns will take on the Orlando Magic at home tonight. The Suns have an implied total sitting at right around 111-points and they are currently 3.5-point underdogs. The Suns have been playing at a pace of right around 106.6 and the Magic have been playing a pace at right around 104.5. This will be a slight pace down game for the Suns but I would not worry as both teams play at a relatively fast pace. Warren is likely to be matched up against Evan Fournier who is one of the worst wing defenders on the slate tonight. He has the following numbers on the season so far this year: 27.5 MPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.1 APG, .9 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 16.9 PPG, 29.2 FPPG, and a 1.06 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 34.493 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.48x value. He is slated to play right around 32 minutes. I have loved Warren all year as the Suns give him all the minutes he can handle. In what should be a high-scoring fast paced-game I love loading up on some Warren at either forward positions of Draftkings tonight.
- Aaron Gordon SF/PF ORL ($7,600)
- Aaron Gordon and the Orlando Magic will take on the Phoenix Suns tonight on the road. The Magic have an implied run total sitting at right around 115-points and they are currently 3.5-point favorites. The Suns have been playing at a pace of right around 106.6 and the Magic have been playing a pace at right around 104.5. This will be a pace-up matchup for the Magic tonight and like I said in the Warren write-up both teams play incredibly fast. Aaron Gordon is going to be likely matched up against Marquese Chriss who is the worst power-forward defender on the slate tonight. Aaron Gordon has the following stats this season: 31.5 MPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.1 APG, .9 BLKPG, .9 STLPG, 19.3 PPG, 37.3 FPPG, and a 1.18 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 39.795 DKFP which is good enough for right around 5.26x value. We have him slated for right around 34 minutes tonight. Gordon is having a solid season so far this year and I love his matchup tonight. This is a game I figure having a lot of fantasy exposure to tonight and that means a good amount of Gordon.
Free Square of the Night
We finally have a decent sized slate 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 Evan Turner tonight! Good luck Army!
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