DFS Alerts
Jaylen Brown (ankle) out Friday
Despite telling reporters at shootaround that he is going to try to play, Brown has officially been ruled out of Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic due to a sprained right ankle that has now forced him to miss two consecutive games, while Jayson Tatum was already ruled out with a right groin strain he sustained in the third quarter of Wednesday’s blowout win. In Brown’s absence, Marcus Smart will almost certainly remain in the starting lineup for at least one additional game, and he’s been relatively consistent for fantasy purposes of late following another solid performance in 29 minutes of action last time out. Among the healthy Celtics starters, Kemba Walker has benefitted the most with Tatum off the court this season, as he owns a 31.4% usage rate, a 23.9% assist rate, and is averaging 1.28 DraftKings and 1.23 FanDuel points per minute in a 276.5 minutes sample size.
As reported by: the Boston Celtics via Twitter
Lauri Markkanen (pelvis) out Friday
Despite being listed as probable on the Bulls injury report, Markkanen won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to a stress reaction in his right pelvis, while Wendell Carter Jr., Daniel Gafford, and Otto Porter Jr. all remain sidelined with their respective ailments. Markkanen underwent an MRI on Thursday’s morning that revealed the aforementioned stress reaction, and he is expected to make a full recovery in four-to-six weeks. In his absence, Thaddeus Young will likely assume the starting power forward role in tonight’s contest, and his minutes have been limited of late with head coach Jim Boylen’s hesitancy to play him alongside Markkanen in the frontcourt but will obviously no longer be an issue. Additionally, Young is averaging 0.94 DraftKings and 0.92 FanDuel points per minute with Markkanen and the other injured Bulls off the court this season, making him an elite value option on tonight’s 10-game main slate.
As reported by: the Chicago Bulls via Twitter Aron Baynes (hip) officially out Friday
As expected, Baynes won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs due to a sore left hip that has now forced him to miss four games, while Cameron Johnson remains sidelined with a right quad contusion. In their absences, head coach Monty Williams has mostly been utilizing the frontcourt combination of Dario Saric and Deandre Ayton, and Ayton has logged at least 35 minutes in three of the Suns previous four games, the one anomaly being Wednesday’s blowout loss where he logged just over 30 minutes of action.
As reported by: Duane Rankin via Twitter An Elite GPP Option
Kemba Walker is going to check in at sub-5% ownership tonight. I love this play for tournaments. While he is not operating at 100% health right now, the minutes over the past two games have been skewed by virtue of two blowout wins. If tonight’s game stays close, we should see his minutes get back to the low to mid 30’s. In addition, Jayson Tatum is out tonight. That means Walker might be asked to carry the offense a bit more, and CourtIQ shows that he gets a 3.3% usage bump sans Tatum this season. I’m in for a low owned GPP option.
Necessary Salary Relief
It has been a tumultuous year for Dewayne Dedmon, culminating with him essentially demanding a trade a couple of months ago. Things seem to be smoothed over for now, and the Kings need Dedmon to play big minutes with Marvin Bagley ruled out again this evening. Dedmon is coming off a solid 14 point, 10 rebound double-double in the last game over 31 minutes of court time, and his DFS price tag has not risen on any site to match that production. This is a tough slate to find elite value, making Dedmon a fine option in any game format.
Jaylen Brown (ankle) plans to play Friday
Brown is still technically listed as questionable on the Celtics injury, but he confirmed with reporters that he is going to try to play in Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic after missing one game due to a sprained right ankle, while Jayson Tatum was already ruled out with a right groin strain he sustained in the third quarter of Wednesday’s blowout win. In Tatum’s absence, Marcus Smart will almost certainly remain in the starting lineup for at least one additional game, and he’s been relatively consistent for fantasy purposes of late following another solid performance in 29 minutes of action last time out. Among the healthy Celtics starters, Kemba Walker has benefitted the most with Tatum off the court this season, as he owns a 31.4% usage rate, a 23.9% assist rate, and is averaging 1.28 DraftKings and 1.23 FanDuel points per minute in a 276.5 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Amanda Pflugrad via Twitter Patrick Beverley (groin) downgraded to doubtful Friday
Beverley is still technically listed as questionable on the Clippers injury report, but head coach Doc Rivers confirmed with reporters at shootaround that it’s doubtful Beverley plays in Friday’s matchup against the Miami Heat due to a sore right groin, while Paul George will miss an eighth straight game with a strained left hamstring. With Beverley sidelined for Wednesday’s loss, Lou Williams ended up receiving the start alongside Landry Shamet in the backcourt, but he was rather unspectacular from a fantasy perspective in just under 35 minutes of action. Kawhi Leonard was also sidelined for this contest, so his return to the starting lineup will send Terance Mann back to the bench following an irrelevant 15-minute spot start for the rookie forward. Given the nature of the Clippers rotation, Williams spends plenty of time on the court without Beverley and George, and he’s been phenomenal in these minutes, as he owns a 31.2% usage rate, 34.0% assist rate, and is averaging 1.30 DraftKings and 1.22 FanDuel points per minute in a 593.5 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Jovan Buha via Twitter Jayson Tatum (groin) out Friday
Tatum has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic due to a right groin strain he sustained in the third quarter of Wednesday’s blowout win, while Jaylen Brown remains questionable with a sprained right ankle that’s already forced him to miss one game. In Tatum’s absence, Marcus Smart will almost certainly remain in the starting lineup for at least one additional game, and he’s been relatively consistent for fantasy purposes of late following another solid performance in 29 minutes of action last time out. Among the healthy Celtics starters, Kemba Walker has benefitted the most with Tatum off the court this season, as he owns a 31.4% usage rate, a 23.9% assist rate, and is averaging 1.28 DraftKings and 1.23 FanDuel points per minute in a 276.5 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Adam Himmelsbach via Twitter Anthony Davis (glute) will play Thursday
Davis has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Thursday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets despite continuing to deal with a Gluteus Maximus contusion, while JaVale McGee was a late addition to the Lakers injury report and won’t play because of an illness. In his absence, Dwight Howard will receive the starting nod at the center position, and he should have a significantly higher minute floor than normal with Davis manning the four spot for a majority of his minutes, which could lead to Kyle Kuzma receiving a slight bump in playing time and Jared Dudley entering the frontcourt rotation. Davis isn’t exactly priced at a discount across daily fantasy sites, but he’s always in consideration for tournament formats since he has a 29.4% usage rate, a 14.3% rebound rate, and is averaging 1.45 DraftKings and 1.50 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Kyle Goon via Twitter CJ McCollum (ankle) out Thursday; Hassan Whiteside (groin) available to play Thursday
McCollum has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks due to a sprained left ankle that has now forced him to miss three consecutive games, while Whiteside will be available to play despite dealing with a groin contusion. Head coach Terry Stotts already confirmed that newly-acquired Trevor Ariza will start alongside Carmelo Anthony in the frontcourt, which means that one of Gary Trent Jr. or Anfernee Simons will head back to the bench to resume a reserve role after each has logged at least 35 minutes in the Blazers previous two games. Other than the potential for more playing time for Simons and Trent, it should come as no surprise that Damian Lillard has benefitted the most with McCollum and the other injured Blazers off the court this season, as he owns a 37.2% usage rate, a 33.8% assist rate, and is averaging 1.59 DraftKings and 1.46 FanDuel points per minute in a 133.9 minutes sample size since Carmelo Anthony made his Portland debut in mid-November.
As reported by: Jamie Hudson via Twitter Other tagged players: Hassan Whiteside JaVale McGee (illness) out Thursday
McGee is a late addition to the Lakers’ injury report and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets due to an illness, while Anthony Davis will be available to play despite continuing to deal with a Gluteus Maximus contusion. In McGee’s absence, Dwight Howard will receive the starting nod at the center position, and he should have a significantly higher minute floor than normal with Davis manning the four spot for a majority of his minutes, which could lead to Kyle Kuzma receiving a slight bump in playing time and Jared Dudley entering the frontcourt rotation. Davis isn’t exactly priced at a discount across daily fantasy sites, but he’s always in consideration for tournament formats since he has a 29.4% usage rate, a 14.3% rebound rate, and is averaging 1.45 DraftKings and 1.50 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Mike Trudell via Twitter Anzejs Pasecniks (ankle) will play limited minutes Thursday
Pasecniks has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Thursday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers after missing two games due to a sprained left ankle, while Rui Hachimura, Moritz Wagner, and Garrison Mathews all remain sidelined with their respective ailments and are without a timetable for their returns. Head coach Scott Brooks already confirmed with reporters that Pasecniks will only see limited minutes in his first game back, but it’s unclear if that’s because of the aforementioned ailment or because Ian Mahinmi, Thomas Bryant, and Davis Bertans are now healthy and absorbing a large portion of the available frontcourt minutes on a nightly basis.
As reported by: the Washington Wizards via Twitter John Henson (back) will play Thursday
As expected, Henson will play in Thursday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards after missing two games due to low back soreness, while Kevin Porter Jr., Brandon Knight, and Ante Zizic all remain sidelined with their respective ailments. Even when Henson has been active and healthy, he’s barely been a part of head coach John Beilein’s rotation when the Cavaliers are at full strength, and he’s played fewer than 13 minutes in two of his previous three games. The reason for this is that Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Larry Nance Jr. essentially absorb all of the available frontcourt minutes, and Love leads the trio with a 23.5% usage rate, 14.3% assist rate, and is averaging 1.15 DraftKings and 1.08 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Chris Fedor via Twitter Lack of Size Creates Opportunity on Both Teams Tonight
With both DeAndre Jordan and Nicolas Claxton expected to miss tonight’s game with injury, the Nets’ back-up center is…. Wilson Chandler? Rodions Kurucs? I honestly have no idea. But my guess is that Jarrett Allen, currently averaging 11.4 points and 9.8 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game, will get to play until he uses up his six fouls. If Allen should be limited in any way by foul trouble, and when he needs a breather, I expect the Lakers big man in the game at the time to feast with no opposition in the paint. The likely beneficiary will be Lakers reserve center Dwight Howard, who gets an even bigger boost if Anthony Davis (Questionable) sits out tonight’s game.
Other tagged players: Dwight Howard
High Floor Value Option
With Ariza projected to start tonight, he’s one of my favorite value plays on this slate. Bazemore averaged 29.8 minutes in his last ten games with Portland as the starting small forward. I expect this game to go small with the injuries on both sides, and I have a hard time not seeing Ariza play at least 26 minutes.
