DFS Alerts
Nerlens Noel (ankle) out Monday
Despite never being listed on the injury report, Noel is a late scratch and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets due to a sore left ankle, while Terrance Ferguson and Abdel Nader were already ruled out with their respective ailments. Head coach Billy Donovan already confirmed that Luguentz Dort will receive the start at small forward in place of Ferguson, but he has logged fewer than 17 minutes in each of the Thunder’s previous two games even with the team shorthanded on both occasions. The absence of Noel should afford Steven Adams a significantly higher minute floor, and Mike Muscala will likely step into the backup center role after filling in serviceably over the last few games with both Noel and Adams dealing with injuries.
As reported by: Steve McGehee via Twitter
Jrue Holiday (elbow) and J.J. Redick (hamstring) available to play Monday
As expected, Holiday and Redick are officially available to play in Monday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies after head coach Alvin Gentry stated they would suit up barring a setback in pregame warmups, while Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor were both ruled out with their respective ailments. In Favors’ absence, Jaxson Hayes will more than likely step into the starting lineup at the center positions and should be locked into a stable minute floor if he stays out of foul trouble, as he and Nicolo Melli are the only traditional big men on the Pelicans active roster for tonight’s contest. Hayes recorded 26 and 19 minutes as the starter in the two most recent games Favors was sidelined, and he’ll be a phenomenal option for all daily fantasy formats on today’s slate if he approaches anywhere close to the lions share of minutes, as he has a 13.4% rebound rate and is averaging 0.99 DraftKings and 1.04 FanDuel points per minute with Favors, Okafor, and Kenrich Williams off the court this season.
As reported by: Pelicans PR via Twitter Other tagged players: J.J. Redick Derrick Favors (back) and Jahlil Okafor (back) out Monday
Favors and Okafor have officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, while head coach Alvin Gentry confirmed with reporters that Jrue Holiday and J.J. Redick will play barring a setback with their respective ailments in pregame warmups. In Favors’ absence, Jaxson Hayes will more than likely step into the starting lineup at the center positions and should be locked into a stable minute floor if he stays out of foul trouble, as he and Nicolo Melli are the only traditional big men on the Pelicans active roster for tonight’s contest. Hayes recorded 26 and 19 minutes as the starter in the two most recent games Favors was sidelined, and he’ll be a phenomenal option for all daily fantasy formats on today’s slate if he approaches anywhere close to the lions share of minutes, as he has a 13.4% rebound rate and is averaging 0.99 DraftKings and 1.04 FanDuel points per minute with Favors, Okafor, and Kenrich Williams off the court this season.
As reported by: Andrew Lopez via Twitter Other tagged players: Jahlil Okafor Jrue Holiday (elbow) and J.J. Redick (hamstring) likely to play Monday
Head coach Alvin Gentry confirmed with reporters at his pregame media availability that Holiday and Redick will play in Monday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies barring a setback, while Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor were both ruled out with their respective ailments. In Favors’ absence, Jaxson Hayes will more than likely step into the starting lineup at the center positions and should be locked into a stable minute floor if he stays out of foul trouble, as he and Nicolo Melli are the only traditional big men on the Pelicans active roster for tonight’s contest. Hayes recorded 26 and 19 minutes as the starter in the two most recent games Favors was sidelined, and he’ll be a phenomenal option for all daily fantasy formats on today’s slate if he approaches anywhere close to the lions share of minutes, as he has a 13.4% rebound rate and is averaging 0.99 DraftKings and 1.04 FanDuel points per minute with Favors, Okafor, and Kenrich Williams off the court this season.
As reported by: Andrew Lopez via Twitter Other tagged players: J.J. Redick Jimmy Butler (hip) out Monday
Butler is a late addition to the Heat’s injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to a sore left hip, while Justise Winslow remains sidelined with a bone bruise in his lower back and is still without a concrete timetable for a return. Butler has only missed two games since being sidelined for the opening three games of the season, and Derrick Jones Jr. and Goran Dragic have alternated starts on these two most recent occasions, though Dragic has logged at least 30 minutes in both contests regardless of starting or bench role. Because of this, it should come as no surprise that Dragic and Tyler Herro have benefitted the most with Butler off the court, as they each own a minimum of a +4.0% increase in usage rate and are averaging at least +0.08 more fantasy points per minute over their normal season-long numbers.
As reported by: Ira Winderman via Twitter Rudy Gay (illness) and DeMarre Carroll (illness) out Monday
As expected, Gay has been ruled out and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to an illness that has now forced him to miss three games, while DeMarre Carroll is a new addition to the Spurs injury report and also won’t be available to play because of an illness Gay has managed to record at least 20 minutes off the bench in six of his previous seven games, so there will certainly be a sizable amount of playing time that will need to be absorbed by some combination of Lonnie Walker IV, Marco Belinelli, Jakob Poeltl, or even DeMarre Carroll this evening. This will more than likely be a difficult situation to dissect given head coach Gregg Popovich’s rotation tendencies, which relegates all of the aforementioned players to tournament-only options on today’s two-game slate, but Walker is the most intriguing of the bunch with a 23.0% usage rate and an average of 0.80 DraftKings and 0.78 FanDuel points per minute with Gay off the court this season.
As reported by: Paul Garcia via Twitter Other tagged players: DeMarre Carroll Al Horford (hand) will play Monday
Horford has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Monday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets despite dealing with a sprained left hand he sustained during Saturday’s win. Meanwhile, Norvel Pelle won’t be available to serve as the backup up center in today’s contest as he’s currently in the G-League preserving the final NBA day remaining on his two-way contract, which means that Kyle O’Quinn will step into the second unit center duties, and he managed to log just under 16 minutes of action in his most recent appearance in Friday’s win. Joel Embiid is slated to miss a seventh straight game because of surgery to repair a torn radial collateral ligament in his left hand, and in his absence, Horford has seen his usage rate spike to 20.0%, his assist rate to 23.9%, and is averaging 1.06 DraftKings and 1.06 FanDuel points per minute in a 198.5 minutes sample over this span.
As reported by: Kyle Neubeck via Twitter Kyrie Irving (hamstring) out Monday
Irving has quickly been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers due to right hamstring tightness, while DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler were already ruled out with their respective ailments. Head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t disclose who would replace Irving in the starting lineup, but either Garrett Temple or Rodions Kurucs appear to be the likeliest candidates based on recent lineup combinations and with Atkinson seemingly unwilling to remove Caris LeVert from his sixth man role off the bench. Even if he doesn’t start, LeVert is an extremely appealing tournament pivot from Spencer Dinwiddie on today’s early slate, as LeVert owns a 32.5% usage rate, 22.9% assist rate, 11.0% rebound rate, and is averaging 1.27 DraftKings and 1.14 FanDuel points per minute with Irving, Chandler, and Jordan off the court this season.
As reported by: Brian Lewis via Twitter Allen Crabbe (illness) on track to play Monday
Crabbe participated in shootaround this morning and is on track to make his Timberwolves debut in Monday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets after missing one game due to an illness, while Jake Layman remains sidelined with a sprained left toe and is still without a timetable for a return. Without Crabbe available for the previous two games, head coach Ryan Saunders condensed his rotation to just nine players, but Andrew Wiggins, Jarret Culver, and Robert Covington were still the only starters to eclipse the 30-minute mark over this span, and once Crabbe is cleared to play, he’ll likely siphon playing time from the likes of Jordan McLaughlin, Keita Bates-Diop, and Josh Okogie moving forward. Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns still hasn’t logged more than 28 minutes in either contest since returning from a 15-game injury layoff, so he’ll be a difficult player to trust in any daily fantasy format until the Timberwolves show they’re willing to extend him to his normal minute workload prior to the aforementioned absence.
As reported by: Chris Hine via Twitter Anzejs Pasecniks (ankle) out Monday
Pasecniks has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to a sprained left ankle, while Jordan McRae will be available to play despite being a limited participant in Sunday’s practice with an ankle injury. Pasecniks has seen his role in the rotation become much more volatile in recent games with the return of Thomas Bryant and Davis Bertans to the frontcourt, and he’s played as little as two minutes and as many as 23 minutes in just the Wizards last three contests. Bryant still hasn’t logged more than 17 minutes in a single game since returning from injury, so with Pasecniks unavailable, Ian Mahinmi becomes an intriguing tournament target at the center position, as he should have a more stable minute floor and is averaging 0.97 DraftKings and 1.01 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Chase Hughes via Twitter Kemba Walker (knee) expects to play Monday; Jaylen Brown (thumb) available
Walker confirmed with reporters at shootaround that he expects to play in Monday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing one game due to a sore left knee, while Brown has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play following a two-game absence because of a sprained right thumb. In their absences, Marcus Smart started both games in the backcourt, and he was phenomenal from a fantasy perspective in an average of 34.8 minutes over the previous two contests, which isn’t too abnormal from his typical minute workload off the bench on a game-to-game basis. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for either Walker or Brown, so Smart will almost certainly head back to the bench to assume his normal sixth man role, which essentially relegates all Celtics to tournament-only targets on tonight’s five-game slate.
As reported by: Tim Bontemps via Twitter Other tagged players: Jaylen Brown Anthony Davis (glute) available to play Monday
Davis has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Monday’s matchup against the Boston Celtics after missing five games due to a Gluteus Maximus contusion, while Rajon Rondo remains questionable with a non-displaced fracture in his right finger that has already forced him three games. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Davis, so he’ll presumably take over the starting power forward role from Kyle Kuzma and be able to handle at least close to his usual minute allotment this evening. Kuzma had some down performances while Davis was sidelined, but he was mostly solid for fantasy purposes in an average of 32.7 minutes over that span. 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 29.5% usage rate, a 14.5% 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 Heavy Minutes, Plus Matchup
Portland remains one of the top teams to target on Monday as their rotation remains extremely thin due to their trade with Sacramento not being finalized until tomorrow. While most people will (rightfully) flock to Damian Lillard as their high-priced Portland spend, Whiteside is likely to garner little ownership, especially at a Center position that is abnormally deep on this slate. Provided it remains a close game, Whiteside could see near 37 minutes of court time against a Warriors team that is allowing the second most fantasy points per game to “post bigs” this season (via RG’s DVA tool).
Jeremy Lamb (hip) available to play Sunday
Lamb has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play Sunday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets despite dealing with a bruised left hip. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Lamb, so he’ll likely be able to handle his usual minute allotment in tonight’s contest, and he even managed to record 31 minutes in Friday’s win. The Pacers are essentially at full strength with Malcolm Brogdon logging over 30 minutes in each of the previous three games, so it’s a bit more difficult for ancillary members of the starting lineup like Lamb, T.J. Warren, and Myles Turner to put up consistent fantasy totals on a nightly basis. However, Lamb is always in consideration for tournament formats with his ceiling, as he owns a 20.4% usage rate and is averaging 0.89 DraftKings and 0.90 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: the Indiana Pacers via Twitter Tyler Herro (knee) will play Sunday
Herro has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Sunday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs after missing two games due to a bruised left knee, while Justise Winslow remains sidelined with a bone bruise in his lower back and is still without a concrete timetable for a return. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Herro, so his availability will cut into the playing time of Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic, and James Johnson while siphoning away usage from other members of the second unit. Herro isn’t exactly consistent fantasy producer, but he is cheap enough across daily fantasy sites on today’s two-game slate that he can be considered in tournament formats, as he has a 21.9% usage rate and is averaging 0.84 DraftKings and 0.76 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Anthony Chiang via Twitter