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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Tonight
After some shorter slates, we finally have a huge 12-game slate for this Friday Night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows Los Angeles Lakers (115), Washington Wizards (113), and the Houston Rockets (112). The highest priced players of the night are Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMarcus Cousins, and Anthony Davis.
Free Squares
- Joel Embiid C PHI ($8,300)
- Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers will take on the Indiana Pacers tonight at home tonight. The 76ers have an implied total sitting at right around 112-points and they are currently 4.5-point favorites tonight. The 76ers are playing at a pace of right around 105.1 and the Pacers are playing at a pace of right around 103.6. This will be a slight pace-down game for the 76ers but both teams play at a relatively high pace. Embiid is likely to be matched up against Myles Turner tonight who is a pretty good defender but one that I think Embiid can take advantage of and reach value tonight. He has the following numbers on the season so far this year: 27.3 MPG, 10.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.3 BLKPG, 1.3 STLPG, 20.9 PPG, 43.0 FPPG, and a 1.57 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection for Embiid sitting at right around 48.573 DKFP which would be good for right around 5.85x value. He is slated to see right around 30 minutes tonight. I love Embiid tonight as he has one of the highest FPPMs in the league. He is moderately priced tonight and he has a ton of upside. I am going to load up Embiid as my center on Draftkings tonight.
- Harrison Barnes SF/PF DAL ($5,500)
- Harrison Barnes and the Dallas Mavericks will take on the New Orleans Pelicans tonight at home tonight. They have an implied total sitting at right around 104-points and they are currently 4.5-point underdogs. The Mavericks are playing at a pace of right around 98.6 and the Pelicans are playing at a pace of right around 104.1. This will be a significant pace up game for Barnes and the Mavericks tonight. There should be plenty of fantasy production opportunities for Barnes tonight. Barnes is likely to be matched up by Dante Cunningham who is not the greatest defender in the world. He has the following stats on the season so far: 34.5 MPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.8 APG, .7 STLPG, 16.3 PPG, 28.0 PPG, and a .81 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we have a projection sitting at right around 33.206 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.96x value. I really like the price and matchup for Barnes tonight. He plays a ton of minutes and should get a lot of fantasy opportunities tonight. Load him up as either forward position on Draftkings tonight.
- Shelvin Mack PG ORL ($3,800)
- Shelvin Mack and the Orlando Magic will take on the Chicago Bulls tonight at home. The Magic have an implied total sitting at right around 106-points and they are currently 8.0-point favorites. The Magic have been playing at a pace of right around 106.3 and the Bulls have been playing at a pace of right around 98.2. This will be a slowed down game for the Magic but they Bulls are so bad I don’t think it will affect Mack too much tonight. He is likely to be matched up with Jerian Grant who is a pretty solid defender. He has the following stats on the season so far: 19.0 MPG, 1.4 RPG, 4.6 APG, .1 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 5.6 PPG, 15.6 FPPG, and a .82 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we have a projection sitting at right around 15.691 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 4.03x value. I am higher on Mack than the Domination Station as I think he will exceed his value tonight. Load him up as value guard tonight on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
This is a medium-sized slate but one I think we can still find an edge on. 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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