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 Kyle Anderson who ended up with 27.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 6.1x value. Our other free square was Kyrie Irving who ended up with 38.25 DKFP which was good enough for right around 4.9x value. Our last free square of the night was Spencer Dinwiddie who ended up with right around 34.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 7.2x value.
Tonight
We have a huge slate on the docket for Wednesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows Philadelphia 76ers (112), New Orleans Pelicans (111), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (111). The highest priced players of the night are Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMarcus Cousins, and Lebron James.
Free Squares
- Joel Embiid C PHI ($8,600)
- Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers will take on the Los Angeles Lakers tonight on the road. The 76ers have an implied total sitting at right around 112-points and they are currently 3.0-point favorites. The 76ers have been playing at a pace of right around 106.3 and the Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 107.1. This is going to be by far the fastest game of the night which should benefit both teams fantasy wise tonight. Embiid is likely to be matched up against Brook Lopez who is an average defender and one I think Embiid will be able to impose his will on. He has the following season stats for the year: 28.3 MPG, 10.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.5 BLKPG, 1.1 STLPG, 20.9 PPG, 43.0 FPPG, and a 1.52 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 50.935 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.92x value. He is slated for right around 32 minutes tonight. Even at $8,600 I still think Embiid is priced too low. He is playing more and more minutes and his upside is huge. Fast-paced game, great matchup, and an unreal FPPM all make Embiid a great play on Draftkings tonight.
- Kris Dunn PG CHI ($4,800)
- Kris Dunn and the Chicago Bulls will take on the Oklahoma City tonight on the road tonight. The Bulls have an implied total sitting at right around 94-points and they are currently 12.5-point underdogs. The Bulls have been playing at a pace of right around 99.5 and the Thunder have been playing at a pace of right around 100.7. This will be slight pace-up game for the Bulls and Dunn tonight. Dunn is likely to be matched up by Russell Westbrook tonight who is a pretty solid defender. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 25.3 MPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.1 STLPG, 10.7 PPG, 25.0 FPPG, and a .99 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 29.784 which would be good enough for right around 6.08x value. He is slated to see right around 32 minutes. Dunn has some pretty impressive numbers for his price tonight. A guy with a high FPPM is what we like to see when choosing a DFS player. The matchup isn’t the greatest but I think he overcomes the matchup and exceeds his value tonight. Load him up as a value guard on Draftkings tonight.
- OG Anunoby SF/PF TOR ($3,000)
- OG Anunoby and the Toronto Raptors will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on the road tonight. The Raptors have an implied total sitting at right around 108-points and they are currently 3.0-point underdogs. The Raptors have been playing at a pace of right around 102.0 and the Pelicans have been playing at a pace of right around 103.9. Both teams play at a decent pace and this will be a faster game than usual for the Raptors. OG is likely to come off the bench tonight and will be able to get some easy baskets against the Pelicans bench. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 17.5 MPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, .1 BLKPG, .9 STLPG, 6.5 PPG, 13.8 FPPG, and a .79 FPPM. We don’t have a ton of data on OG yet, but he has really stepped up in recent games to keep earning more playing time. He is a solid defender and he can also rack up a decent number of fantasy points. He is priced at the bottom of the barrel tonight and although there is some risk in his minutes I think he can crush his value if he continues to see an uptick in minutes tonight. Load him up as a value play tonight on Draftkings.
Free Square of the Night
We have a huge 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 Joel Embiid tonight! Good luck Army!
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