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. Our first free square of the night was Rudy Gobert who ended up with right around 42.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 5.4x value. Our second free square of the night was Dennis Schroder who ended up with right around 32.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 5.2x value. Our final free square of the night was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who ended up with right around 32.00 which was good enough for right around 5.2x value.
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Tonight
We have a short slate ahead of us for Wednesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Golden State Warriors (117), Los Angeles Lakers (107), and Miami Heat (108). The highest priced players on the slate are Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Stephen Curry.
- Isaiah Thomas PG/SG LAL ($6,300)
- Isaiah Thomas and the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Golden State Warriors on the road tonight. The Lakers have an implied total sitting at right around 107-points and they are currently 7.5-point underdogs. The Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 105.2 and the Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 103.5. It’s a pace down game for the Lakers only for the fact that they are one of the fastest teams in the league. This is going to be a matchup between the fastest team in the league versus the fourth fastest team in the league. Thomas is likely going to be coming off the bench a position he has thrived in since coming to Los Angeles. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 26.4 MPG, 2.1 RPG, 4.9 APG, .1 BLKPG, .5 STLPG, 15.5 PPG, 26.3 FPPG, and a 1.00 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 33.952 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.39x value. He is projected to play right around 30 minutes tonight. I have been a big fan of IT since he has returned to the Lakers and I like the matchup and pace of the game tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier guard with upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Jayson Tatum SF/PF BOS ($5,700)
- Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics will take on the Washington Wizards at home tonight. The Celtics have an implied total sitting at right around 101-points and they are currently 2.5-point underdogs. The Celtics have been playing at a pace of right around 99.6 and the Wizards have been playing at a pace of right around 100.7. Slight little pace up game for the Celtics and Tatum tonight which should provide a nice little fantasy boost. He is likely going to be guarded by Otto Porter tonight who is a decent defender. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 30.1 MPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, .8 BLKPG, .9 STLPG, 13.3 PPG, 25.1 FPPG, and a .83 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 32.595 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.72x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. The Celtics are banged up tonight which is good news for Taytum. He should see a significant increase in production tonight at an affordable price. Load him up as a mid-tier forward with upside on Draftkings tonight.
- Nick Young SG GSW ($3,200)
- Nick Young and the Golden State Warriors will take on the Los Angeles Lakers at home tonight. The Warriors have an implied total sitting at right around 117-points and they are currently 7.5-point favorites. As stated in the Thomas write-up the Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 105.2 and the Lakers have been playing at a pace of right around 103.5. This is a nice pace up game for the Warriors who are already a team who plays at a fast pace. Young is likely going to be guarded by KCP who is a solid defender. I still like the spot for Young tonight as it looks like Steph Curry will be out along with Klay Thompson. That should open up a lot of fantasy opportunity for the remaining Warriors tonight. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 14.5 MPG, 1.3 RPG, .4 APG, .1 BLKPG, .5 STLPG, 6.5 PPG, 10.4 FPPG, and a .72 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 21.663 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.77x value. He is projected to play right around 34 minutes tonight. Young is at nearly minimum salary tonight and he is going to get a ton of minutes. Don’t overthink this one and load up Nick Young as a value shooting guard on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a short 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 Jayson Tatum tonight! Good luck Army!
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