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
Let’s take a look back at how our free squares did last night. Our first free square of the night was Dennis Smith Jr. who ended up with right around 33.0 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.5x value. Our second free square of the night was Nikola Jokic who ended up with right around 46.75 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.4x value. Our final free square of the night was Taurean Prince who ended up with 9.0 DKFP which was good enough for right around 2x value.
Tonight
We have a decent sized slate ahead of us for Tuesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Houston Rockets (118), Cleveland Cavaliers (113), and the New Orleans Pelicans (112). The highest priced players on the slate are Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and Lebron James.
- Kyle Lowry PG TOR ($7,600)
- Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at home. The Raptors have an implied total sitting at right around 112-points and they are currently 6.5-point favorites. The Raptors have been playing at a pace of right around 102.1 and the Timberwolves have been playing at a pace of right around 99.2. This is going to be pace down game for the Raptors tonight but I still like the spot for Lowry tonight. He is likely going to be guarded by Jeff Teague tonight who hasn’t been that great of a defender this year. Lowry has the following stats on the season so far this year: 32.5 MPG, 6.0 RPG, 6.6 APG, .2 BLKPG, 1.2 STLPG, 16.4 PPG, 37.3 FPPG, and a 1.15 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 40.47 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.47x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. This is a great price and a great matchup for Lowry tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier point guard with some upside tonight.
- Montrezl Harrell PF/C LAC ($4,100)
- Montrezl Harrell and the Los Angeles Clippers will take on the Portland Trailblazers tonight at home. The Clippers have an implied total sitting at right around 109-points and they are currently 2.0-point underdogs. The Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 101.7 and the Trailblazers have been playing at a pace of right around 99.9. Slight pace down game for Harrell and the Clippers but I do not think it is going to affect them too much tonight. Harrell is likely going to be coming off the bench tonight but I believe he will see significant minutes. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 15.2 MPG, .7 APG, 4.0 RPG, .6 BLKPG, .4 STLPG, 8.7 PPG, 16.3 FPPG, and a 1.07 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 28.086 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.85x value. He is projected to play right around 28 minutes tonight. No Blake Griffin anymore which open up a lot of fantasy opportunity for the Clippers tonight. Harrell has a high FPPM and I love his upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Donovan Mitchell PG/SG UTA ($6,900)
- Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz will take on the Golden State Warriors tonight at home. The Jazz have an implied total sitting at right around 104-points and they are currently 7.5-point underdogs. The Jazz have been playing at a pace of right around 98.3 and the Warriors have been playing at a pace of right around 103.6. This is a significant pace up game for the Jazz and Mitchell tonight. Mitchell is likely going to be guarded by Klay Thompson tonight who is a solid defender. Mitchell has the following stats on the season so far this year: 32.0 MPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, .4 BLKPG, 1.5 STLPG, .5 BLKPG, 19.2 PPG, 32.1 FPPG, and a 1.01 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 38.077 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.52x value. He is projected to play right around 36 minutes. Mitchell is going to play a ton of minutes tonight in what should be a fast game for the Jazz tonight. Load him up as a mid-priced 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 Kyle Lowry tonight! Good luck Army!
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