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 J.J. Barea who got injured ended up with right around 11.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 2.2x value. Our second free square of the night was Ben McLemore who ended up with right around 21.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 6.5x value. Our final free square of the night was Hassan Whiteside who ended up with right around 29.25 DKFP which was good enough for right around 4.4x value.
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Tonight
We have a short slate ahead of us for Thursday night. The teams with the highest implied totals are as follows: Denver Nuggets (115), Milwaukee Bucks (114), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (112). The highest priced players on the slate are LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and James Harden.
- Rudy Gobert C UTA ($7,400)
- Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz will take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight at home. The Jazz have an implied total sitting at right around 110-points and they are currently 7.5-point favorites. The Jazz have been playing at a pace of right around 98.8 and the Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 102.1. This is going to be a significant pace up game for the Jazz. This should provide a nice extra boost to Gobert’s fantasy production tonight. Gobert is likely going to be guarded by Deandre Jordan who has struggled defensively this year. Gobert has the following stats on the season so far this year: 32.4 MPG, 10.9 RPG, 1.4 APG, 2.3 BLKPG, .8 STLPG, 13.7 PPG, 35.6 FPPG, and a 1.10 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 42.81 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.78x value. He is projected to play right around 36 minutes tonight. It’s a nice pace up game and a solid matchup for Gobert tonight. I like the price for him tonight as your center on Draftkings tonight.
- Jabari Parker SF/PF MIL ($4,900)
- Jabari Parker and the Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Brooklyn Nets at home tonight. The Bucks have an implied total sitting at right around 114-points and they are currently 8.5-point favorites. The Bucks have been playing at a pace of right around 99.9 and the Nets have been playing at a total of right around 102.7. This is going to be a nice pace up game for the Bucks tonight as they are one of the slower teams in the league. Parker is likely going to be coming off the bench but he should get enough action to exceed his value tonight against a bad Nets team. He has the following stats on the season so far this year: 23.0 MPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, .4 BLKPG, .7 STLPG, 11.9 PPG, 22.3 FPPG, and a .97 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 30.949 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 6.31x value. He is projected to play right around 31 minutes tonight. Parker is going to be coming off the bench, but I like his price and he has a solid FPPM. Load him up as an affordable forward on Draftkings tonight.
- Donovan Mitchell PG/SG UTA ($7,100)
- Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz will take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight at home. The Jazz have an implied total sitting at right around 110-points and they are currently 7.5-point favorites. The Jazz have been playing at a pace of right around 98.8 and the Clippers have been playing at a pace of right around 102.1. Like I talked about with Gobert the Jazz are a slow team and this is a great matchup from a pace point of view to target. Mitchell is likely going to be guarded by Austin Rivers who is a middling to below average defender. Mitchell should have no problem on the offensive end tonight. Mitchell has the following stats on the season so far this year: 33.3 MPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, .3 BLKPG, 1.5 STLPG, 20.4 PPG, 33.9 FPPG, and a 1.02 FPPM. Taking a look at our Domination Station we can see that we have a projection of right around 41.331 DKFP which would be good enough for right around 5.82x value. He is projected to play right around 37 minutes tonight. As you can tell I love this matchup for the Jazz and Mitchell tonight. I think he is going to have a big offensive outing tonight. Load him up as a mid-tier guard with upside tonight.
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 Rudy Gobert tonight! Good luck Army!
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