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
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Tonight
We have a decent slate ahead of us for Monday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Miami Heat (114), Cleveland Cavaliers (113), and the Portland Trailblazers (113). The highest priced players on the slate are Lebron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Damian Lillard.
- Larry Nance PF/C CLE ($5,300)
- Larry Nance and the Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Detroit Pistons at home tonight. The Cavaliers have an implied total sitting at right around 113-points and they are currently 6.0-point favorites. The Cavaliers have been playing at a pace of right around 100.9 and the Pistons have been playing at a pace of right around 99.4. Slight pace down game for the Cavaliers tonight but neither of these teams play at a fast pace. Nance is likely going to be guarded by Andre Drummond tonight who hasn’t been the greatest individual defender this year. Nance has the following stats on the season so far this year: 21.6 MPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.4 APG, .6 BLKPG, 1.4 STLPG, 8.8 PPG, 23.0 FPPG, and a 1.06 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 33.304 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.28x value. He is projected to play 31 minutes tonight. Nance is starting for the injured Tristan Thompson and it is about time. He has a great matchup and solid FPPM numbers. Load him up as a mid-tier forward or center on Draftkings tonight.
- Bobby Portis PF/C CHI ($6,200)
- Bobby Portis and the Chicago Bulls will take on the Boston Celtics tonight at home. The Bulls have an implied total sitting at right around 102-points and they are currently 7.5-point underdogs. The Bulls have been playing at a pace of right around 102.0 and the Celtics have been playing at a pace of right around 99.6. This is going to be a pace down game for the Bulls tonight, but I still like the price and spot for Portis tonight. He is likely going to be guarded by Aron Baynes tonight who is a pretty solid defender. Portis has the following stats on the season so far this year: 21.3 MPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.6 APG, .3 BLKPG, .6 STLPG, 13.2 PPG, 25.5 FPPG, and a 1.20 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 35.605 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.74x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. Portis has a solid FPPM and even though it’s a tougher matchup tonight he should see plenty of minutes to crush value tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier forward or center on Draftkings tonight.
- James Ennis SG/SF DET ($3,400)
- James Ennis and the Detroit Pistons will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight on the road. The Pistons have an implied total sitting at right around 107-points and they are currently 6.0-point underdogs. As talked about in the Nance write-up the Cavaliers have been playing at a pace of right around 100.9 and the Pistons have been playing at a pace of right around 99.4. The Pistons and Ennis will see a slight pace up advantage tonight against the Cavs. Ennis is likely going to be guarded by Cedi Osman tonight who is an average defender. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 23.1 MPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, .3 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 7.4 PPG, 15.1 FPPG, and a .65 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 22.551 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.64x value. He is projected to play 30 minutes tonight. Ennis is likely getting the start tonight and is going to play a ton of minutes. At a near minimum salary, Ennis is a no-brainer play tonight on Draftkings.
Free Square of the Night
We have a decent 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 Larry Nance tonight! Good luck Army!
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