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 Kyle Anderson who ended up with 23.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 4.9x value. Our second free square of the night was Courtney Lee who ended up with 20.25 DKFP which was good enough for right around 4.1x value. Our final free square of the night was LaMarcus Aldridge who ended up with right around 55.0 DKFP which was good enough for right around 7.2x value.
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Tonight
We have a decent sized slate ahead of us for Monday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Golden State Warriors (118), Houston Rockets (113), and the Toronto Raptors (113). The highest priced players on the slate are Lebron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and DeMarcus Cousins.
- Kyle Anderson PG/SF SAS ($5,000)
- Kyle Anderson and the San Antonio Spurs will take on the Sacramento Kings on the road tonight. The Spurs have an implied total sitting at right around 102-points and they are currently 5.5-point favorites. The Spurs have been playing at a pace of right around 97.3 and the Kings have been playing at a pace of right around 97.4. This is going to be a neutral pace game as both of these teams play at the same pace. Anderson is likely going to be guarded by Garrett Temple tonight who is not that great a defender and a guy Anderson may be able to put up some offensive points tonight. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 27.1 MPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.7 APG, .7 BLKPG, 1.2 STLPG, 8.4 PPG, 23.2 FPPG, and a .86 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 28.828 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.77x value. He is projected to play right around of 32 minutes. Going back to the well tonight with Kyle Anderson again. No Kawhi likely again means a lot of opportunities for the rest of the Spurs. Anderson can fill up the stat sheet and I like his matchup tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier forward or guard on Draftkings tonight.
- Lou Williams PG/SG LAC ($7,900)
- Lou Williams and the Los Angeles Clippers will take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight at home. The Clippers have an implied total sitting at right around 109-points and they are currently 5.0-point underdogs. The Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 100.8 and the Hawks have been playing at a pace of right around 100.6. This is going to be a neutral pace game as both of these teams play at the same pace. Lou Williams is likely going to be coming off the bench tonight but that should not be a problem as he has more than returned his value as a 6-man. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 31.1 MPG, 2.6 RPG, 4.9 APG, .2 BLKPG, .8 STLPG, 21.9 PPG, 34.5 FPPG, and a 1.11 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 43.557 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.51x value. He is projected to play right around 36 minutes tonight. Clippers have a ton of injuries and Lou Williams is primed for a big game tonight. He is priced pretty high but he has a ton of upside tonight. Load him up a higher priced guard with a ton of upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Bobby Portis PF/C CHI ($4,400)
- Bobby Portis and the Chicago Bulls will take on the Houston Rockets tonight at home. The Bulls have an implied total sitting at right around 108-points and they are currently 6.0-point underdogs. The Bulls have been playing at a pace of right around 101.2 and the Rockets have been playing at a pace of right around 102.8. This is going to be a pace up game for the Bulls tonight and an overall fast game in general. Bobby Portis is likely going to be coming off the bench but that shouldn’t matter as he should see an uptick in minutes with Mirotic out. Portis has the following numbers on the season so far this year: 20.2 MPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.6 APG, .3 BLKPG, .4 STLPG, 12.0 PPG, 24.2 PPG, and a 1.20 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 18.891 which would be good enough for right around 4.29x value. That projection is likely to go up as news of Mirotic injuries has just hit the wire. Portis has a solid FPPM and is going to see an uptick in minutes tonight in a pace up game. He makes a great value play with some upside at $4,400 on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a smaller 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 Lou Williams tonight! Good luck Army!
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