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
Tonight
We have a decent slate ahead of us for Tuesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Philadelphia 76ers (117), Oklahoma City Thunder (113), and the Toronto Raptors (112). The highest priced players on the slate are LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.
- Nikola Jokic C DEN ($9,800)
- Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will take on the Indiana Pacers at home tonight. The Nuggets have an implied total sitting at right around 108-points and they are currently 3.5-point favorites. The Nuggets have been playing at a pace of right around 100.9 and the Pacers have been playing at a pace of right around 99.1. It will be a slight pace down game for the Nuggets and Jokic but I still like the spot. Jokic is likely going to be guarded by Myles Turner who has had his struggles on defense this season. I love this matchup for Jokic tonight and I expect him to have a big offensive game tonight. He has the following numbers on the season so far this year: 32.1 MPG, 10.6 RPG, 6.0 APG, .8 BLKPG, 1.1 STLPG, 18.1 PPG, 44.6 FPPG, and a 1.39 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 49.025 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5x value. He is projected to play 35 minutes tonight. I love the matchup for the Jokic tonight and I don’t think the price is too high for tonight. Load him up as your stud on Draftkings tonight.
- Daniel House SG/SF PHO ($3,000)
- Robert Covington SF/PF PHI ($6,000)
- Robert Covington and the Philadelphia 76ers will take on the Brooklyn Nets tonight at home. The 76ers have an implied total sitting at right around 117-points and they are currently 8.0-point favorites. The 76ers have been playing at a pace of right around 103.3 and the Nets have been playing at a pace of right around 102.7. This is a great game to target from a DFS perspective as these are two of the fastest teams in the league. Covington is likely going to be guarded by D’Angelo Russell who is a terrible defender. Covington has the following stats on the season so far this year: 31.5 MPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.9 APG, .8 BLKPG, 1.6 STLPG, 12.8 PPG, 27.9 FPPG, and a .89 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 31.52 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.25x value. He is projected to play right around 31 minutes tonight. Covington has an awesome matchup in what should be a fast-paced high scoring game. Load him up as a mid-tier forward on Draftkings tonight.
Free Square of the Night
We have a solid 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 Nikola Jokic tonight! Good luck Army!
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