DFS Alerts

Grant Williams (protocols) available to play Monday

Grant Williams (protocols) available to play Monday

Jayson Tatum (protocols) ruled out Monday; Marcus Smart (hand) questionable

Tatum becomes the eighth Celtic, including both roster and hardship contract players, to be placed into the NBA’s health and safety protocols and be ruled out for Monday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Smart has been downgraded to questionable on the injury report with a hand laceration. With Tatum and Dennis Schroder sidelined, Romeo Langford figures to receive another start alongside Jaylen Brown on the wing, but even with a minute floor hovering in the mid-twenties over the previous three contests, Langford has continued to be wildly inconsistent for daily fantasy purposes and is likely unuseable on a slate already saturated with potential value options for tournament formats.

Delon Wright (protocols) ruled out Monday

Wright becomes the eleventh Hawk, including both roster and hardship contract players, to be placed into the NBA’s health and safety protocols and be ruled out for Monday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls, who are on the second leg of a back-to-back set and dealing with protocol issues of their own. With Wright, Trae Young, Lou Williams, and Sharife Cooper all sidelined, it appears as if Bogdan Bogdanovic and Skylar Mays are poised to handle most, if not all, of the ballhandling and offensive creation responsibilities in tonight’s contest, though it is certainly possible a recent hardship 10-day signee like Cat Barber sees significant playing time with the second unit in order to have multiple capable ballhandlers on the floor at once this evening.

Pistons likely to start Walton, Frank Jackson, Hamidou Diallo, Bey, Garza on Sunday.

Pistons likely to start Walton, Frank Jackson, Hamidou Diallo, Bey, Garza on Sunday.

Cole Anthony (injury maintenance) out Sunday.

Cole Anthony (injury maintenance) out Sunday. With Anthony out, Franz Wagner assumes more ball-handling duties and becomes a stronger option for the single game slate.

P.J. Tucker (leg) out Sunday.

P.J. Tucker (leg) out Sunday. Tucker will once again miss this game, and Max Strus could potentially remain in the starting lineup. However, with Jimmy Butler back, Strus could return to the bench, and will have a lesser role regardless.

Jimmy Butler (tailbone) plans to play on Sunday.

Jimmy Butler (tailbone) plans to play on Sunday. Tucker will once again miss this game, and Max Strus could potentially remain in the starting lineup. However, with Jimmy Butler back, Strus could return to the bench, and will have a lesser role regardless.

Dejounte Murray (health protocols) out Sunday.

Dejounte Murray (health protocols) out Sunday. We will have to wait and see what this Spurs situation looks like closer to lock. Derrick White, Devin Vassell and Lonnie Walker figure to have increased ball handling duties, usage and minutes.

Darius Bazley (health protocols) out Sunday.

Darius Bazley (health protocols) out Sunday.

Lonzo Ball (health and safety protocols) is out Sunday.

Lonzo Ball (health and safety protocols) is out Sunday. With Ball now in protocols and Caruso still out, we will have to wait and see what this Bulls situation looks like closer to lock. Coby White and Zach Lavine figure to have increased ball handling duties.

Kristaps Porzingis will play Saturday; Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Green inactive

Porzingis will play on Christmas night, giving the Mavs a much needed boost on the offensive end with Luka Doncic remaining out of the lineup. Dorian Finney-Smith will be inactive Saturday night along with Josh Green, which leaves the Mavs with another hole to fill in the front-court and is likely to lead to added opportunity for Sterling Brown, Theo Pinson and possibly Marquese Chriss.

Avery Bradley inactive Saturday

Bradley won’t play despite being out of the league’s health and safety protocols. His projected playing time is likely to be eaten up by a combination of Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Isaiah Thomas and Rajon Rondo. LeBron remains far and away the top target on the Lakers side with Wayne Ellington shaping up to be the top value target on this side.

Andre Iguodala (knee) listed out Saturday

Iguodala will miss yet another game as he works his way back from a knee issue. With Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole both out, Gary Payton and Otto Porter will continue to start and see increased run with Nemanja Bjelica, Jonathan Kuminga and Juan Toscano-Anderson all potentially seeing more run off the bench. Draymond Green gets a notable uptick in assists (over 12.8 per 36 minutes) with Wiggins, Poole and Iguodala off the floor (with Steph on) and Steph Curry also gets a scoring bump, averaging over 37 raw points per 36 minutes.

Avery Bradley and Malik Monk available to play Saturday

Avery Bradley and Malik Monk have both cleared health and safety protocols and will be available to play Saturday. Bradley and Monk should provide the Lakers with much needed guard depth and push Isaiah Thomas and Jemerrio Jones back down the depth chart. It remains to be seen if Bradley or Monk will be on any sort of minutes limitation as they could be dealing with some conditioning issues.

Lineup Update: Celtics will start Smart, Langford, Brown, Tatum, Robert Williams on Saturday.