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 Stephen Curry who ended up with 31.0 DKFP which was good enough for right around 3.6x value. Our other free square was T.J. Warren who ended up with 23.74 DKFP which was good enough for right around 3.7x value. Our last free square of the night was Eric Gordon who ended up with right around 23.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 3.8x value.
Tonight
We have a decent sized slate on the docket for Friday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows Los Angeles Lakers (119), Cleveland Cavaliers (115), and the Denver Nuggets (113). The highest priced players of the night are Lebron James, DeMarcus Cousins, and Russell Westbrook.
Free Squares
- Jordan Clarkson PG/SG LAL ($5,100)
- Jordan Clarkson and the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Phoenix Suns at home tonight. The Lakers have an implied total sitting at right around 119-points and they are currently 7.5-point favorites. The Suns have been playing at a pace of right around 107.2 and the Lakers have been playing at the exact same pace number 107.2. This is a DFS fantasy players dream game tonight as we have the two teams tied for second in the league with pace. Clarkson is likely going to be coming off the bench tonight, but I do not think that will affect him too much. He will face a Suns team who have been quite bad at defense this year: He has the following stats on the season so far this season: 22.0 MPG, 2.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, .9 STLPG, 15.8 PPG, 24.8 FPPG, and a 1.13 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that Clarkson has a projection of right around 32.172 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.31x value. He is slated for right around 28 minutes. I think this is a matchup tonight where we could really see Clarkson explode. He is a prolific scorer and has a high FPPM. If he gets enough minutes tonight I don’t see how he doesn’t exceed his value tonight. Load him up as a value guard tonight on Draftkings.
- T.J. Warren SF/PF PHO ($6,500)
- We had T.J. Warren as one of the free squares last night and he disappointed us a bit. I am going to go back to the well tonight as he is in another great spot. T.J. Warren and the Phoenix Suns will take on the Los Angeles Lakers tonight on the road. The Suns have an implied total sitting at right around 111-points and they are currently 7.5-point underdogs. We already talked about how this is going to be one of the fastest games of the season with very little defense that is going to be played tonight. There are a lot of guys who are in play in this game tonight. Warren is likely going to be matched up against Brandon Ingram tonight who is not a defender that I fear at all. Warren has the following stats on the season so far this year: 29.0 MPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, .8 BLKPG, .6 STLPG, 18.4 PPG, 30.0 FPPG, and a 1.03 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 37.274 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.73x value. He is slated to see right around 35 minutes tonight. Even though Warren burned us last night does not mean I am going to fade him tonight. I am going to trust the Domination Station and my instincts tonight and load up Warren at either forward positions tonight.
- Lou Williams PG/SG LAC ($6,600)
- Lou Williams and the Los Angeles Clippers will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road tonight. The Clippers have an implied total sitting at right around 108-points and they are currently 6.5-point underdogs. The Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 100.6 and the Cavaliers have been playing at a pace of right around 102.3. This will be a nice pace-up game for the Clippers who tend to play at a slower pace. Williams similar to Clarkson is going to come off the bench like usual but he gets a solid amount of minutes and will be able to get a good matchup against a weak Cavaliers bench. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 26.3 MPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.4 APG, .1 BLKPG, .9 STLPG, 17.5 PPG, 28.3 FPPG, and a 1.08 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 39.535 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.96x value. He is slated to see right around 35 minutes tonight. Williams has been absolutely crushing it in his last 3 games and the increased salary has proven that. He is going to play a lot of minutes tonight and with minutes comes a ton of points for Williams. Load him up as a mid-tier guard who has a ton of upside tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a tiny 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 Jordan Clarkson tonight! Good luck Army!
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