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 Chris Paul who ended up with right around 42.50 DKFP which was good enough for 5.2x value. Our second free square of the night was Paul Millsap who ended up with right around 32.50 DKFP which was good enough for 5.7x value. Our final free square of the night was Kyle Kuzma who ended up with right around 15.0 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 3.3x value.
Tonight
We have a large slate ahead of us for Wednesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Philadelphia 76ers (117), Los Angeles Clippers (117), and the Minnesota Timberwolves (116). The highest priced players on the slate are LeBron James, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Joel Embiid.
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- Isaiah Taylor PG ATL ($3,800)
- Isaiah Taylor and the Atlanta Hawks will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight on the road. The Hawks have an implied total sitting at right around 105-points and they are currently 11.5-point underdogs. The Hawks have been playing at a pace of right around 101.3 and the Timberwolves have been playing at a pace of right around 99.7. This is going to be a pace down game for the Hawks but the price and spot are solid for Taylor tonight. Taylor is likely going to be Jeff Teague who is an average to below average defender. Taylor has the following stats on the season so far this year: 16.1 MPG, 1.4 RPG, 2.8 APG, .2 BLKPG, .5 STLPG, 6.1 PPG, 12.9 FPPG, and a .80 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 27.079 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 7.14x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. Taylor draws the start tonight at near minimum price on Draftkings tonight. Don’t overthink this one and lock him in as a value guard tonight.
- LeBron James SF/PF CLE ($11,600)
- LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Charlotte Hornets tonight on the road tonight. The Cavaliers have an implied total sitting at right around 113-points and they are currently 1.0-point underdogs. The Cavaliers have been playing at a pace of right around 101.1 and the Hornets have been playing at a pace of right around 101.9. This is going to be a nice little pace up game for Lebron and the Cavs tonight. LeBron is likely going to be guarded by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who is just an average defender. LeBron has the following numbers on the season so far this year: 37.0 MPG, 8.6 RPG, 9.1 APG, .9 BLKPG, 1.5 STLPG, 27.4 PPG, 56.9 FPPG, and a 1.54 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 61.708 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.32x value. He is projected to play right around 37 minutes tonight. It’s obviously always a good idea to roster one of the best players in the league, but I particularly like LeBron in this matchup tonight. With some decent value on the board, I think we can load up on LeBron on Draftkings tonight.
- Shabazz Napier PG/SG POR ($3,800)
- Shabazz Napier and the Portland Trailblazers will take on the Memphis Grizzlies on the road tonight. The Trailblazers have an implied total sitting at right around 104-points and they are currently 6.5-point favorites. The Trailblazers have been playing at a pace of right around 100.0 and the Grizzlies have been playing at a pace of right around 98.0. This is going to be a pace down game for the Trailblazers but the minutes up matchup for Napier is going to be hard to pass up tonight. Napier is likely going to be guarded by Andrew Harrison tonight who is a below average defender. Napier has the following stats on the season so far this year: 20.4 MPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.1 APG, .2 BLKPG, 1.2 STLPG, 8.8 PPG, 17.4 FPPG, and a .85 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 28.538 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 7.51x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. Napier and Taylor are pretty much in an identical spot tonight. I like loading up both of these value guards tonight on Draftkings.
Free Square of the Night
We have a large 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 Isaiah Taylor tonight! Good luck Army!
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