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 a look at how our free squares did last night. For our first free square of the night, we had Cristiano Felicio who ended up with 9.75 DKFP which was good enough for right around 3.3x value. Our second free square of the night was D’Angelo Russell who ended up with 33 DKFP which was good enough for right around 5.9 value. Our final free square of the night was Emmanuel Mudiay who ended up with right around 21.25 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 4.8x value.
Tonight
We have a huge sized slate ahead of us for Friday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Houston Rockets (118), Los Angeles Clippers (116), and the Los Angeles Lakers (114). The highest priced players on the slate are James Harden, Lebron James, and Anthony Davis.
- Alex Len C PHO ($4,800)
- Alex Len and the Phoenix Suns will take on the Los Angeles Clippers at home tonight. The Suns have an implied total sitting at right around 110-points and they are currently 5.5-point underdogs. The Suns have been playing at a pace of right around 103.0 and the Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 101.8. This is going to be a slight pace down game for the Suns tonight but the Clippers do not play slow by any means. Len is likely going to be guarded by Deandre Jordan who has been average defender this season. Len has the following stats on the season so far this year: 20.3 MPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.2 APG, .9 BLKPG, .4 STLPG, 8.4 PPG, 22.1 FPPG, and a 1.09 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 29.56 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.19x value. He is projected to play right around 30 minutes tonight. Len is going to see a decent amount of minutes tonight in a decent matchup tonight. He has a solid FPPM and has a great price tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier center with upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Brandon Ingram PG/SF LAL ($6,200)
- Brandon Ingram and the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Dallas Mavericks at home tonight. The Lakers have an implied total sitting at right around 114-points and they are currently 4.0-point favorites. The Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 105.2 and the Mavericks have been playing at a pace of right around 98.2. This is going to be a pace down game for the Lakers tonight but I still like the spot and price for Ingram tonight. Ingram is likely going to be guarded by Wesley Matthews who is an awful defender. I expect a nice offensive game for Ingram tonight. Ingram has the following stats on the season so far this year: 33.5 MPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.7 APG, .7 BLKPG, .8 STLPG, 16.2 PPG, 30.3 FPPG, and a .90 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 32.53 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.26x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. Love the matchup for Ingram tonight. You can load him up as as either a guard or forward tonight on Draftkings.
- Austin Rivers PG/SG LAC ($5,700)
- Austin Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers will take on the on the Phoenix Suns on the road tonight. The Clippers have an implied total sitting at right around 116-points and they are currently 5.5-point favorites. As stated in the Len write-up the Suns have been playing at a pace of right around 103.0 and the Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 101.8. This is a nice pace up game for Rivers tonight and he should see some extra fantasy opportunities tonight. He is likely going to be guarded by Elfrid Payton tonight who is a terrible defender. He has the following stats on the season so far this season: 33.0 MPG, 2.2 RPG, 3.7 APG, .2 BLKPG, 12 STLPG, 15.5 PPG, 27.0 FPPG, and a .82 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 29.27 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.13x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. Rivers have a great matchup tonight and he should see a ton of minutes. This is going to be a fast-paced high scoring game and Rivers makes a great play at guard tonight on Draftkings.
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 Austin Rivers tonight! Good luck Army!
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