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 Isaiah Taylor who ended up with right around 36 DKFP which was good enough for 9.5x value. Our second free square of the night was LeBron James who ended up with right around 69 DKFP which was good enough for 5.9x value. Our final free square of the night was Shabazz Napier who ended up with right around 14.25 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 3.8x value.
Tonight
We have a short slate ahead of us for Thursday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Miami Heat (111), Golden State Warriors (110), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (106). The highest priced players on the slate are Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
- Reggie Jackson PG DET ($4,800)
- Reggie Jackson and the Detroit Pistons will take on the Washington Wizards at home tonight. The Pistons have an implied total sitting at right around 104-points and they are currently 1.5-point underdogs. The Pistons have been playing at a pace of right around 99.7 and the Wizards have been playing at a pace of right around 100.6. This is is going to be a nice pace up game for the Pistons and Reggie Jackson tonight. Reggie is likely going to be guarded by John Wall tonight who is an okay defender. Reggie has the following stats on the season so far this year: 26.3 MPG, 5.0 APG, .1 BLKPG, .6 STLPG, 14.3 PPG, 26.2 FPPG, and a 1.0 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 24.707 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.15x value. He is projected to play right around 28 minutes tonight. Reggie has a great FPPM number and I think he will see enough minutes tonight to crush value. Load him up as a mid-tier point guard with upside tonight.
- Tyler Johnson PG/SG MIA ($4,400)
- Tyler Johnson and the Miami Heat will take on the Chicago Bulls on the road tonight. The Heat have an implied total sitting at right around 111-points and they are currently 13.0-point favorites. The Heat have been playing at a pace of right around 99.3 and the Bulls have been playing at a pace of right around 101.9. This is a significant pace up game for the Heat and Johnson tonight which should provide him with a nice fantasy boost. Johnson is likely going to be guarded by Justin Holiday tonight who is a decent defender. Tyler Johnson has the following stats on the season so far this year: 28.5 MPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.3 APG, .5 BLKPG, .8 STLPG, 12.0 PPG, 22.7 FPPG, and a .80 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 23..047 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.24x value. He is projected to play 27 minutes tonight. It is a tougher matchup but with the extreme pace up game and a bottom barrel price, I think Tyler Johnson crushes value tonight on Draftkings.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo SF/PF MIL ($10,600)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Golden State Warriors on the road tonight. The Bucks have an implied total sitting at right around 105-points and they are currently 5.0-point underdogs. The Bucks have been playing at a pace of right around 99.6 and the Warriors have been playing at a pace of right around 103.0. This is another significant pace up game for the Bucks who are one of the slowest teams in the league. Giannis should see a decent amount of extra fantasy opportunities tonight. Antetokounmpo is likely going to be guarded by Draymond Green who is a solid defender. Giannis has the following stats on the season so far this year: 36.9 MPG, 10.0 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.5 BLKPG, 1.5 STLPG, 27.2 PPG, 52.5 FPPG, and a 1.42 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 53.557 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.05x value. He is projected to play right around 37 minutes tonight. Giannis draws Draymond tonight but I still think he is going to crush it in what should be a pace up high scoring game. Load Giannis up as your elite stud on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a small 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 Reggie Jackson tonight! Good luck Army!
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