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 our free squares from last night. Our first free square of the night was Nikola Jokic who ended up with right around 58 DKFP which was good enough for right around 5.9x value. Our second free square of the night was Danuel House who ended up with right around 28.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 9.5x value. Our final free square of the night was Robert Covington who ended up with right around 38 DKFP which was good enough for right around 6.3x value.
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Tonight
We have a decent slate ahead of us for Wednesday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: New Orleans Pelicans (114), Philadelphia 76ers (109), and the San Antonio Spurs (108). The highest priced players on the slate are Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, and Ben Simmons.
- Hassan Whiteside C MIA ($6,600)
- Hassan Whiteside and the Miami Heat will take on the Atlanta Hawks on the road tonight. The Heat have an implied total sitting at right around 107-points and they are currently 8.5-point favorites. The Heat have been playing at a pace of right around 99.5 and the Hawks have been playing at a pace of right around 101.4. This is a significant pace up game for the Heat and Whiteside tonight. Look for Whiteside to get some extra fantasy opportunities tonight. Whiteside is likely going to be guarded by Dewayne Dedmon tonight who is a below average defender. Look for Whiteside to have a better offensive outing than usual. Whiteside has the following stats on the season so far this year: 25.4 MPG, 11.6 RPG, 1.0 APG, .7 STLPG, 1.7 BLKPG, 14.2 PPG, 35.0 FPPG, and a 1.38 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 33.571 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.09x value. He is projected to play right around 25 minutes tonight. Whiteside has been in the doghouse with the Heat coaching staff but this is the perfect matchup for him to have a bounce-back game. He is priced pretty low and I like the spot for him on Draftkings tonight.
- J.J. Barea PG/SG DAL ($5,300)
- J.J. Barea and the Dallas Mavericks will take on the Orlando Magic on the road tonight. The Mavericks have an implied total sitting at right around 97-points and they are currently 3.5-point underdogs. The Mavericks have been playing at a pace of right around 98.8 and the Magic have been playing at a pace of right around 101.3. A nice pace boost for the Mavericks and Barea tonight. Barea is likely going to be guarded by D.J. Augustin who has been a terrible defender this year. Barea should have no problem on the offensive end tonight. Barea has the following stats on the season so far this year: 23.3 MPG, 2.9 RPG, 6.3 RPG, .5 STLPG, 11.7 PPG, 25.9 FPPG, and a 1.11 FPPM.Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 36.732 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.93x value. He is projected to play right around 29 minutes tonight. Barea has a solid matchup tonight in a pace-up game. His price is solid and I think he’ll get enough minutes to exceed his value tonight on Draftkings.
- Ben McLemore SG/SF MEM ($3,300)
- Ben McLemore and the Memphis Grizzlies will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on the road tonight. The Grizzlies have an implied total sitting at right around 101-points and they are currently 13-point underdogs. The Grizzlies have been playing at a pace of right around 98.0 and the Pelicans have been playing at a pace of right around 104.8. This is is the fastest team in the league going up against the slowest team in the league. Everyone on Memphis gets a huge bump tonight. McLemore is likely going to be guarded by Jrue Holiday tonight who is a solid defender. McLemore has the following stats on the season so far this year: 18.3 MPG, 2.4 RPG, .9 APG, .3 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 7.1 PPG, 13.1 FPPG, and a .72 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 23.901 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 7.24x value. He is projected to play right around 32 minutes tonight. McLemore is basically minimum priced and he will be starting in an extreme pace up matchup. I’m not going to overthink this one and load up on McLemore as a value guard or forward tonight on Draftkings.
Free Square of the Night
We have a shorter 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 J.J. Barea tonight! Good luck Army!
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