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 look at how our free squares did last night. Our first free square of the night was Isaiah Thomas who ended up with 35.25 DKFP which was right around 6.2x value. Our second free square of the night was Evan Fournier who ended up with 29.75 DKFP which was good enough for right around 5.4x value. Our final free square of the night was P.J. Tucker who ended up with right around 18.25 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.2x value.
We had another big night for our VIP Members take a look at all our winnings from last night:
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Tonight
We have a decent sized slate ahead of us for Friday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Denver Nuggets (114), Indiana Pacers (108), and Los Angeles Lakers (106). The highest priced players on the slate are Andre Drummond, John Wall, and Victor Oladipo.
- Will Barton SG/SF DEN ($6,500)
- Will Barton and the Denver Nuggets will take on the Phoenix Suns tonight at home. The Nuggets have an implied2 total sitting at right around 114-points and they are currently 8.5-point favorites. The Nuggets have been playing at a pace of right around 100.1 and the Suns have been playing at a pace of right around 103.5. This is a significant pace up game for the Nuggets and Barton tonight which should give him a nice little fantasy boost. He is likely going to be guarded by Tyler Ulis tonight who is a terrible defender. I expect a big offensive night from Barton in this game and matchup. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 31.1 MPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.1 APG, .6 BLKPG, 1.0 STLPG, 14.6 PPG, 30.1 FPPG, and a .97 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 38.266 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.89 FPPM. He is projected to play right around 35 minutes. It looks like Barton will start tonight and he has a fantastic matchup; Load him up as a mid-tier forward or guard with a ton of upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Otto Porter SF/PF WSH ($5,600)
- Otto Porter and the Washington Wizards will take on the Detroit Pistons on the road tonight. The Wizards have an implied total sitting at right around 105-points and they are currently 1.0-point favorites. The Wizards have been playing at a pace of right around 101.2 and the Pistons have been playing at a pace of right around 98.5. This will be a slight pace down game for the Wizards tonight but I still like Porter’s spot and price. He is likely going to be guarded by Reggie Bullock tonight who is not a defender that I fear. I think Porter could have a nice offensive game against Bullock tonight. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 31.4 MPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, .6 BLKPG, 1.5 STLPG, 13.7 PPG, 29.1 FPPG, and a .93 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 31.433 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.62x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. Porter has solid numbers on the year and I like this spot he is in tonight. He should see all the minutes he can handle in what should be a close game. Load him up at either forward position on Draftkings tonight.
- Goran Dragic PG MIA ($7,500)
- Goran Dragic and the Miami Heat will take on the Brooklyn Nets on the road tonight. The Heat have an implied total sitting at right around 105-points and they are currently 2.5-point favorites. The Heat have been playing at a pace of right around 98.1 and the Nets have been playing at a pace of right around 103.7. This is one of the slowest teams in the league going up against one of the fastest teams in the league tonight. Expect a nice fantasy boost for Dragic and the rest of the Heat tonight. He is likely going to be guarded by Spencer Dinwiddie tonight who is a pretty solid defender. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 32.1 MPG, 4.2 RPG, 4.9 APG, .2 BLKPG, .9 STLPG, 17.3 PPG, 31.7 FPPG, and a .99 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 38.087 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.08x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. It is a tougher matchup for Dragic tonight but all the other factor are in his favor tonight. This is going to be a significant pace up game for the Heat tonight and Dragic already has a solid FPPM number. Load him up as a higher priced point guard on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a decent sized 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 Will Barton tonight! Good luck Army!
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