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 for last night. Our first free square of the night was Eric Gordon who ended up with 52.75 DKFP which was good enough for right around 8.1x value. Our second free square of the night was Draymond Green who ended up with 58.00 DKFP which was good enough for right around 8.8x value. Our final free square of the night was Gerald Green who ended up with right around 38.75 DKFP which was good enough for right around 9.7x value.
I want to give a special shoutout to one of our VIP Members @skilfulrobbase for getting 1st place in the Fanduel Clutch Shot last night!
Congrats!
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Tonight
We have a huge slate ahead of us for Friday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: San Antonio Spurs (112), Charlotte Hornets (110), and the Toronto Raptors (108). The highest priced players on the slate are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Andre Drummond.
Free Squares
- Ish Smtih PG DET ($5,800)
- Ish Smith and the Detroit Pistons will take on the Philadelphia 76ers tonight on the road. The Pistons have an implied total sitting at right around 102-points and they are currently 6.0-point underdogs. The Pistons have been playing at a pace of right around 98.3 and the 76ers have been playing at a pace of right around 105.3. This is a significant pace-up game for the Pistons tonight which should provide a ton of extra fantasy opportunities for Ish Smith tonight. Ish is likely going to be guarded by J.J. Redick tonight who is not that great of a defender and a guy Ish should put some points up on tonight. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 21.0 MPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.9 APG, .2 BLKPG, .5 STLPG, 9.3 PPG, 19.2 FPPG, and a .91 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 29.26 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.05x value. He is projected to play right around 31 minutes tonight. Ish has a great matchup is going to be playing in a pace up game and is going to play a ton of minutes tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier point guard tonight in a great spot on Draftkings tonight.
- Derrick Favors PF/C UTA ($6,000)
- Derrick Favors and the Utah Jazz will take on the Denver Nuggets tonight on the road. The Jazz have an implied total sitting at right around 101-points and they are currently 6.5-point underdogs. The Jazz have been playing at a pace of right around 98.0 and they Nuggets have been playing at a pace of right around 100.3. This wil be a nice little pace up game for Favors tonight which should help him out fantasy wise tonight. He is likely going to be guarded by Mason Plumlee tonight who is not a good defender and a guy I think Favors dominates tonight. Favors has the following stats on the season so far this year: 27.5 MPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, .9 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 12.5 PPG, 25.9 FPPG, and a .94 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 31.395 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.23x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. I like the matchup for Favors tonight and I think he is going to get a decent amount of minutes in a pace up game for the Nuggets. Load him up as a mid-tier forward on Draftkings tonight.
- Goran Dragic PG MIA ($5,600)
- Goran Dragic and the Miami Heat will take on the New York Knicks tonight at home. The Heat have an implied total sitting at right around 104-points and they are currently 4.5-point favorites. The Heat have been playing at a pace of right around 98.0 and the Knicks have been playing at a pace of right around 99.5. Just a small pace up game for the Heat tonight but it still should benefit them fantasy wise tonight. Dragic is likely to be guarded by Jarrett Jack tonight who is just an average defender. Dragic has the following stats on the season so far this season: 31.2 MPG, 4.0 RPG, 4.7 APG, .2 BLKPG, .9 STLPG, 16.7 PPG, 30.7 FPPG, and a .98 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 35.444 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.37x value. He is projected to play right around 33 minutes tonight. I think Dragic is simply priced too low tonight. He has pretty solid FPPM numbers and is in a good spot tonight against the Knicks. Load him up as a solid guard option on Draftkings tonight.
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 Goran Dragic tonight! Good luck Army!
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