Sam Dekker Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Ariza has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Friday's matchup against the Charlotte Hornets despite dealing with a sore right knee, while Dekker has been cleared to return from a one-game absence stemming from a sore lower back. Head coach Scott Brooks already confirmed that Ariza won't be subject to a minute restriction, so he'll presumably be a full-go in tonight's contest and has consistently been seeing minutes in the mid-30s prior to his injury in Wednesday's win. With Dekker unavailable last time out, Chasson Randle managed to record 21 minutes of action off the bench, but he was relatively ineffective from a fantasy standpoint and could see a diminished role with Dekker now back in the fold for playing time in the second unit.

Dekker and Mahinmi have officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers following their one-game absence due to back spasms and a sprained right thumb, respectively. Their availability should relegate Troy Brown Jr. from the rotation after he managed to log 14 minutes of action off the bench in Sunday’s loss, but Mahinmi had played fewer than eight minutes or been a DNP-CD in four of his previous six games prior to his brief injury hiatus. In their absences, Thomas Bryant logged just 30 minutes as the primary center, while Jeff Green and Trevor Ariza, who played a team-high 42 minutes, served as the backups in smaller lineup combinations when Bryant was off the floor.

Dekker has officially been downgraded from questionable and won't play in Sunday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs due to back spasms, while Ian Mahinmi was also ruled out with a sprained right thumb after being a game-time decision. Mahinmi’s playing time has been sporadic of late in head coach Scott Brooks’ rotation, as he’s played fewer than eight minutes or accrued a DNP-CD in four of the last six games, so his absence won’t have too much of an impact on the remaining members of the frontcourt rotation. With Dekker and Mahinmi now unavailable, Jeff Green is primed to see an increase in minutes as the de facto backup center option in smaller lineup combinations, while Trevor Ariza and Otto Porter will be relied upon to pick up the slack at each forward position, respectively.

The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to send Matthew Dellavedova, John Henson, a 2021 first-round picks, and a 2021 second-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for George Hill and Sam Dekker in what appears to a salary dump deal for Milwaukee, as they will save $18M in salary in the 2019-20 season with the trade, which allows them flexibility to continue to upgrade their roster. Obviously, it goes without saying that all of the aforementioned players will not be available to play for their new or former teams in Friday's matchups as the trade still needs to be finalized by the NBA league offices. Henson and Dekker are currently sidelined with injuries, and Dellavedova was out of the Bucks rotation, so Hill's departure is really the only noteworthy news to come from this trade. His absence should allow Larry Nance to reenter the Cavaliers starting lineup while Jordan Clarkson and Alec Burks should see increased roles off the bench.

Dekker was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle and will miss approximately two-to-four weeks. In his absence, J.R. Smith will start at small forward in Wednesday's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will slide Cedi Osman down to the power forward spot. Smith has averaged 24.5 minutes off the bench the last two games, so he'll make for an interesting tournament target if he's able to approach the 30-minute mark this evening. The Cavaliers are already without Kevin Love, so Larry Nance theoretically should step into an expanded role in the frontcourt rotation sans Dekker, but he hasn't played more than 27 minutes in a game this season, leaving that in some doubt.

Kevin Love has been ruled out Saturday due to a foot injury. Sam Dekker will start in his place, and every Cavs player will see a usage bump in Love's absence. However, the offense as a whole will see a downgrade without their top scorer, and there is definitely blowout risk against the Pacers.