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
Congratulations to one of our VIP Members @harlemking25 for taking down a cool 20,000 last night on FanDuel!
Let’s take a look at how our free squares did last night. Our first free square of the night was Justise Winslow who ended up with right around 31.25 DKFP which was good enough for right around 8x value. Our second free square of the night was Damian Lillard who ended up with right around 53.25 DKFP which was good enough for right around 5.7x value. Our final free square of the night was Dwyane Wade who ended up with right around 33.25 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.7x value.
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Tonight
We have a large slate ahead of us for Friday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Golden State Warriors (119), Los Angeles Clippers (118), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (118). The highest priced players on the slate are Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
- Trey Burke PG/SG NYK ($5,100)
- Trey Burke and the New York Knicks will take on the Los Angeles Clippers on the road tonight. The Knicks have an implied total sitting at right around 109-points and they are currently 8.5-point underdogs. The Knicks have been playing at a pace of right around 100.7 and the Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 102.1. This is going to be a nice pace up game for the Knicks tonight which should provide some extra fantasy opportunities. Burke is likely going to be coming off the bench tonight but he has had success this year with the Knicks in that role. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 15.4 MPG, 1.3 RPG, 3.5 APG, .1 BLKPG, .4 STLPG, 10.4 PPG, 18.5 FPPG, and a 1.20 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 25.955 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.09x value. He is projected to play right around 25 minutes tonight. Burke should see enough minutes tonight to exceed his value. He has a really solid FPPM number and has a solid price tonight in what should be a high scoring game.
- Montrezl Harrell PF/C LAC ($4,700)
- Montrezl Harrell and the Los Angeles Clippers will take on the New York Knicks at home tonight. The Clippers have an implied total sitting at right around 118-points and they are currently 8.5-point favorites. Like I stated in the Burke write-up the Knicks have been playing at a pace of right around 100.7 and the Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 102.1. Slight pace down game for the Clippers tonight but I still like the spot for Harrell tonight. He is likely going to be coming off the bench tonight against a weak Knicks second unit. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 15.6 MPG, 3.9 RPG, .8 APG, .8 BLKPG, .4 STLPG, 9.6 PPG, 17.8 FPPG, and a 1.14 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection 25.814 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.36x value. He is projected to play right around 21 minutes tonight. He’s not projected to play a ton of minutes but Harrel is one of those guys who is efficient with his minutes. He has a solid FPPM and I like his price tonight. Load him up as a value forward or center on Draftkings tonight.
- Jarell Martin PF/C MEM ($4,500)
- Jarell Martin and the Memphis Grizzlies will take on the Denver Nuggets at home tonight. The Grizzlies have an implied total sitting at right around 103-points and they are currently 7.5-point underdogs. The Grizzlies have been playing at a pace of right around 97.7 and the Nuggets have been playing at a pace of right around 100.3. This is going to be a significant pace up game for the Grizzlies tonight who are one of the slowest teams in the league. Martin is likely going to be guarded by Will Barton tonight who is a terrible defender. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 20.6 MPG, 3.9 RPG, .8 APG, .7 BLKPG, .6 STLPG, 6.7 PPG, 15.0 FPPG, and a .73 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 26.854 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.97x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. Martin has a great matchup and price tonight. He is projected to play a ton of minutes tonight and is super affordable. Load him up as a value forward or center on Draftkings tonight.
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 Trey Burke tonight! Good luck Army!
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