DFS Alerts
Cory Joseph (back) will start Friday; Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee) available to play
Head coach Luke Walton originally told reporters that Joseph was unlikely to play, but he will reportedly start in Friday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs despite dealing with a sore lower back, while Bogdanovic is also available to come off the bench. For the most part, Joseph has been logging substantial minutes as the Kings starting point guard with De’Aaron Fox sidelined, as he’s seen at least 32 minutes in four of the previous six games.
As reported by: Jason Jones via Twitter Other tagged players: Bogdan Bogdanovic
Justise Winslow (back) out Friday
Winslow has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards due to a strained lower back, while Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters were already ruled out with their respective ailments. Winslow has come off the bench in all five games since returning from an extended injury layoff, and he has logged at least 30 minutes in four of these aforementioned contests. Clearly, this will leave a substantial amount of playing time vacant in the Heat rotation, and James Johnson could possibly enter the rotation should head coach Erik Spoelstra not choose to just distribute those minutes to Derrick Jones Jr., Kendrick Nunn, and Tyler Herro this evening.
As reported by: Ira Winderman via Twitter Andrew Wiggins (thumb) out Friday; Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) and Shabazz Napier (hamstring) available to play
Wiggins has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a sprained left thumb, while Towns and Napier will be available to play. In Wiggins’ absence, Jeff Teague will rejoin the starting lineup, and he’s logged fewer than 28 minutes off the bench in each of the Timberwolves’ previous two games.
As reported by: Timberwolves PR via Twitter Other tagged players: Karl-Anthony Towns, Shabazz Napier JaMychal Green (tailbone) out Friday
Green has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks due to a tailbone contusion that has now forced him to miss two games. Green exited towards the end of the second quarter of Sunday’s blowout win and was replaced by Paul George, so it’s a bit difficult to determine which bench player, if any, will continue to benefit from his absence. The most likely scenario is that Patrick Patterson remains in the rotation to absorb a majority of Green’s vacated minutes, but he has historically been such a poor per-minute fantasy producer that it may be better to take a shot on Maurice Harkless in hopes he receives close to a typical starters’ workload opposed to the usual 22-24 minutes he’s usually allotted on a nightly basis.
As reported by: Jovan Buha via Twitter Tristan Thompson will play and start tonight
With Love out and not much resistance in the Magic front court, Thompson could be in for a big workload in tonight’s game against the Magic. The second unit will likely still belong to Larry Nance Jr, so both Thompson and Nance can be considered for your lineups tonight.
As reported by: Spencer Davies
Marcus Smart will start tonight
With the news that Smart is back in the starting lineup, it is safe to assume that he will be deployed normally and likely receive a full complement of minutes. Smart has also made comments today that he anticipated time guarding Nikola Jokic, so look for him to take a defensive first mindset that may lead to some extra peripherals but the scoring will likely come from elsewhere in the Celtics lineup tonight. This also may slightly increase the likelihood that he sees some foul trouble.
As reported by: Brian Robb Markieff Morris has been ruled out
Minimal DFS impact with a second unit player getting minimal run now ruled out, but this slightly improves Derrick Rose’s outlook and may open up some extra minutes for a backup high energy big like Christian Wood. Obviously Morris himself was never in consideration.
As reported by: Rod Beard Deonte Burton has been ruled out
With Burton out and Ferguson/Diallo already having been ruled out, the Thunder will be plenty thin on the second unit, potentially opening up a decent opportunity for Dennis Schroder to have some increased usage, and Abdel Nader to get some extra run at just above min price.
As reported by: Michael Gallagher Kevin Love has been ruled out
With Love out, the first major shoe has dropped. Tristan Thompson is also a game time decision, so we’ll need to continue to monitor the Cavs lineup until lock. If both miss, the best play might be on the other side of the game with no rim protectors to stop a hard charging Aaron Gordon. You can also look to Larry Nance Jr as he is always viable when Love misses, and that is no different here.
As reported by: Chris Fedor Expanded Role Due to Injury
Isaiah Thomas remains out for the suddenly injury riddled Washington Wizards which means Ish Smith is in line for extended minutes once again on the second leg of a back-to-back. Smith’s price tag has yet to catch up to his expanded role as he logged 34 minutes in Thursday night’s game against the 76ers and should be in line for a similar workload Friday night barring any sort of foul trouble.
Markieff Morris is listed as questionable
It appears Morris’ neck injury has flared up once again, although he is now on the 2nd unit with Blake Griffin back and unlikely to be a DFS consideration himself. If he ends up not being able to go we may see a slight bump in usage to the already high usage Derrick Rose on the 2nd unit.
As reported by: NBA Injury Report Isaiah Thomas has been ruled out
With Thomas out again that opens up some back court usage for the Wizards, which will likely be mostly consumed by Bradley Beal. With the already thin Wizards losing another starter, we may also see more extended run from Ish Smith and the Wizards may also look for minutes from G-League players Chris Chiozza and Admiral Schofield as other potential options
As reported by: NBA Injury Report LaMarcus Aldridge is expected to play
Aldridge is back after having missed Tuesday’s controversial game against the Rockets, which will mean less opportunity for Jakob Poeltl (who was unlikely to get another 41 minute game anyway), and would probably spur coach Popovich to use something closer to his regular rotation, meaning the ceiling game that was yielded from 35 Lonnie Walker IV minutes is unlikely to repeat itself. Aldridge himself is a typically unexciting play and his pricing is nothing out of the ordinary.
As reported by: Paul Garcia Thaddeus Young has been ruled out
With Young out, the Bulls may seize the opportunity to give a bit more run to Daniel Gafford on the second unit, who is a fringe DFS option given the near minimum pricing and beatable Warriors front court (especially the 2nd unit) that he will be matched up against. It’s an intriguing GPP play at best, but the Bulls do seem to like him and he has been getting slightly more minutes lately, although not as consistently as you’d hope.
As reported by: KC Johnson Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins are listed as questionable
With both Towns and Wiggins being GTDs, we could be looking at a vastly different Wolves squad than the one that would typically take the floor. It’s too early to determine what combinations of players might take the floor, but worth noting that coach Saunders indicated Towns was more limited than Wiggins. If Towns sits we could see additional opportunity for Gorgui Dieng, and Wiggins sitting would open up usage all across the board. This is definitely a situation to monitor as we approach lock.
As reported by: Alan Horton Other tagged players: Andrew Wiggins