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
Tonight
Welcome back! We have a decent sized slate ahead of us for Thursday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Golden State Warriors (124), Cleveland Cavaliers (113). and the Charlotte Hornets (112). The highest priced players on the slate are Lebron James, Rusell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant.
- Cristiano Felicio PF/C CHI ($3,000)
- Cristiano Felicio and the Chicago Bulls will take on the Philadelphia 76ers at home tonight. The Bulls have an implied total sitting at right around 103-points and they are currently 6.5-point underdogs.. The Bulls have been playing at a pace of right around 101.9 and the 76ers have been playing at a pace of right around 103.3. This is going to be a nice pace up game for the Bulls and Felicio as we get a matchup of two of the faster teams in the league tonight. Felicio is likely going to be matched up against Joel Embiid tonight who is a solid defender. Felicio has the following stats on the season so far this year: 12.5 MPG, 2.7 RPG, .7 APG, .2 BLKPG, .1 STLPG, 3.8 PPG, 8.5 FPPG, and a .68 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 16.479 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.49x value. He is projected to play 22 minutes tonight. I think we see a few more minutes and a few more points out of Felicio then the Domination Station predicts tonight. He is dirt cheap and makes a great value play at either forward or center tonight on Draftkings.
- D’Angelo Russell PG/SG BKN ($5,600)
- D’Angelo Russell and the Brooklyn Nets will take on the Charlotte Hornets on the road tonight. The Nets have an implied total sitting at right around 104-points and they are currently 8.0-point underdogs. The Nets have been playing at a pace of right around 102.7 and the Hornets have been playing at a pace of right around 101.7. Slight pace-down game for the Nets tonight but both of these teams play at a relatively high pace. Russell will likely be coming off the bench tonight but that has not stopped him from exceeding his value so far. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 23.6 MPG, 3.7 RPG, 4.6 APG, .2 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 15.7 PPG, 28.1 FPPG, and a 1.19 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 33.096 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.91x value. He is projected to play 29 minutes tonight. Russell is an FPPM stud and I still don’t think his price is up to par yet. Load him up as a mid-tier guard with a ton of upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Emmanuel Mudiay PG NYK ($4,400).
- Emmanuel Mudiay and the New York Knicks will take on the Orlando Magic on the road tonight. The Knicks have an implied total sitting at right around 106-points and they are currently 3.5-point underdogs. The Knicks have been playing at a pace of right around 100.5 and the Magic have been playing at a pace of right around 101.7. This is going to be a nice pace-up game for Mudiay and the Knicks tonight. Look for some extra fantasy opportunities for the Knicks players tonight. Mudiay is likely going to be guarded by D.J. Augustin who is a middling to below average defender. Mudiay has the following stats on the season so far this year: 18.1 MPG, 2.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, .1 BLKPG, .5 STLPG, 8.6 PPG, 16.9 FPPG, and a .93 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 25.693 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.83x value. He is projected to play right around 27 minutes tonight. It’s a fresh start for Mudiay and I foresee him being the starting point guard for the rest of the season. He should see a ton more minutes and as it stands right now he is underpriced. Load him up as a value guard with upside on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a decent 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 Emmanuel Mudiay tonight! Good luck Army!
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