DFS Alerts
Ricky Rubio (back) and Aron Baynes (hip) listed out Sunday
As expected, Rubio and Baynes won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets due to their respective ailments, while Cameron Johnson is listed as probable once again with a sore right knee but still managed to log 21 minutes in Saturday’s win. Tyler Johnson will likely start a third straight game at point guard with Rubio unavailable, and he has been relatively serviceable in an average of 30 minutes per game over the previous two contests. A majority of the backup point guard minutes have gone to Elie Okobo, who most recently saw 22 minutes off the bench last time out, and Jevon Carter was forced to the end of the rotation, recording a DNP-CD in last night’s contest.
As reported by: Gina Mizell via Twitter Other tagged players: Aron Baynes
Seth Curry (illness) will play Sunday
As expected, Curry will play in Sunday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets after missing two games due to an illness. In his absence, Tim Hardaway Jr. ended up receiving the starting nod alongside Luka Doncic in the backcourt, and head coach Rick Carlisle disclosed to reporters during Saturday’s practice that he’ll likely continue to allow Hardaway to start after his phenomenal fantasy performances in just 20.1 minutes per game over the Mavericks’previous two blowout wins. Hardaway will continue to be a relatively scoring dependent player for daily fantasy formats, but he does own a 21.2% usage rate and is averaging 0.81 DraftKings and 0.76 FanDuel points per minute thus far on the season.
As reported by: Chuck Cooperstein via Twitter Danuel House Jr. (shoulder) will start Sunday
House Jr. has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Sunday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks after missing one game due to a sore left shoulder. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for House, so he’ll presumably be a full-go in today’s contest, and his return to the lineup will relegate Ben McLemore to the bench following his serviceable fantasy performance in 32 minutes of action in Friday’s loss. House will continue to be a viable fantasy option while Eric Gordon is sidelined and his price remains low, as he is averaging 0.85 DraftKings and 0.85 FanDuel points per minute with Gordon off the court this season.
As reported by: Craig Ackerman via Twitter Reluctant Value
For now, assuming that Ricky Rubio is sidelined again today, Tyler Johnson reluctantly looks like the safest cash game value on the slate. He started in yesterday’s game against Minnesota and struggled with his shot, but he still played 31 minutes for the second straight game. In two contests since Rubio got injured, Johnson has played 31 minutes and averaged 25 fantasy points. That’s reasonable production for a $4.2K salary on both FD and DK — and that is with him combining to shoot 4-for-17 from the floor in those two games. We can hopefully expect the shot to improve in future outings, and Okobo certainly isn’t the answer (Phoenix tried that last year). Our early projections have him as the top point per dollar play on the board, and he’s a safe cash game value on a slate that needs it. For now, he’s the play.
Still Too Cheap
Put a cloth over the name for a moment. Now, consider this nugget: With Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert off the floor this year, Spencer Dinwiddie owns a 35.4% usage rate. If that was his full season mark, it would rank second in the NBA behind James Harden, barely ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo. I’m not trying to say that Spencer Dinwiddie is better than Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the point is obvious: Dinwiddie is being forced to carry the Brooklyn offense tonight because they simply lack other elite offensive options. He is averaging around 1.3 fantasy points per minute with Irving and LeVert off the floor. Dinwiddie has scored at least 20 actual points and at least 35 fantasy points in four straight games. The fantasy floor is tremendous right now, and his price still feels a bit light on every site. It basically hasn’t moved since the last outing, which was a larger slate where Meansy also laid out a similar case for Dinwiddie being a core option. Now, it’s a shorter slate, the price tag hasn’t moved, and the appeal is the same.
Sunday Building Block
Jokic got back to his stat-filling ways in a difficult matchup against Boston his last time out, piling up a triple-double with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. He also matches up well against a Phoenix team that has been ravaged by injuries in recent weeks. The likes of Dario Saric and Frank Kaminsky are not going to be able to slow Jokic down, and the Suns rank 8th in the NBA in pace this season. Then there’s the matter of general roster construction at the center position. This is best utilized by looking at FanDuel, where you have to roster a center and you don’t have positional flexibility like you do on the other sites. Montrezl Harrell is a fine option (and I like him as a GPP pivot at the position), but otherwise your next options on FD are Thomas Bryant and Mitchell Robinson. No offense to those guys, but they aren’t Nikola Jokic. There’s not a lot to add with multi-position eligibility on DK, either, with just Julius Randle joining the mix. For these reasons — the recent trends, the matchup, and the positional scarcity — Jokic should be the first building block of your cash game lineups, and he will likely be the highest owned player on the slate.
Rebound Spot For Stud
Buddy Hield disappointed in his last game but we need to wipe our minds clear of that and be willing to go right back to him. The Kings remains without De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley, while Bogdan Bogdanovic remains doubtful. That’s going to force the Kings to lean even more on Hield. He shot poorly in his last game and the defensive attention will be focused on him, but I’m more than willing to go back to him tonight.
Preferred Spend
Nikola Jokic is my preferred spend of Sunday’s main slate as the Nuggets host a struggling Suns team that has lost three of their last four and are playing their fifth game in seven nights on the second leg of a road back-to-back. Jokic is arguably the top overall play in terms of raw projection regardless but would vault into must play territory if the Suns’ best interior defender Aron Baynes (Q) were to miss his fourth-game in a row with a hip injury.
Rudy Gobert (ankle) out Saturday; Tony Bradley will start
Gobert has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans due to a sprained left ankle. Gobert was able to log 35 minutes and closeout Friday’s win with the other Utah starters, so it’s unclear when he actually sustained the aforementioned injury. Head coach Quin Snyder has been utilizing a combination of Tony Bradley and Jeff Green as the backup center depending on lineup variations, and Tony Bradley will receive the starting nod at the center position in tonight’s contest. However, he may not be locked into quintessential starters minutes since Snyder likes to utilize smaller lineup combinations when Gobert is off the court, which should enable Green to have the higher minute floor of the two this evening.
As reported by: David Locke via Twitter Other tagged players: Tony Bradley Jahlil Okafor (ankle) out Saturday
Okafor has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz due to a sprained left ankle, while Josh Hart will also be unavailable because of a sprained left ankle. Okafor being ruled out is a bit odd since head coach Alvin Gentry admitted during his pregame media availability that Okafor could give the team some minutes off the bench in tonight’s contest, which had signaled his likely return. Jaxson Hayes has seen his minutes dissipate over the Pelicans previous two contests, logging just 21 minutes on each occasion, but he at least won’t have to worry about Okafor being subbed in for him, marginally increasing his projected fantasy value this evening.
As reported by: Pelicans PR via Twitter Josh Hart (ankle) out Saturday
Hart has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz due to a sprained left ankle that’s now forced him to miss six games. Jahlil Okafor is still technically listed as questionable, but head coach Alvin Gentry did admit during his pregame media availability that Okafor could give the team some minutes off the bench, signaling his likely availability in tonight’s contest. Jaxson Hayes has seen his minutes dissipate over the Pelicans previous two contests, logging just 21 minutes on each occasion, and he’ll see his minute floor take yet another hit if Okafor manages to see any meaningful run off the bench this evening.
As reported by: Will Guillory via Twitter Luke Kennard (hip) and Derrick Rose (foot) expected to play Saturday
Despite being listed as questionable, head coach Dwane Casey expects Kennard and Rose to play in Saturday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, while Blake Griffin and Tony Snell will be unavailable due to their respective ailments. Christian Wood is still probable, but he should be responsible for absorbing a large chunk of the available power forward minutes with both Griffin and Snell sidelined. In fact, Wood’s season-high in total minutes played came the last time Griffin sat out for a back-to-back situation, and he was phenomenal from a fantasy perspective in 26 minutes of action. If Rose and Kennard are able to give it a go, they’ll both be intriguing tournament targets since they each see a minimum of a +1.5% increase in usage rate and average at least +0.06 more DraftKings and FanDuel points per minute with Griffin off the court this season
As reported by: Keith Langlois via Twitter Other tagged players: Derrick Rose Alex Caruso (calf) out Saturday
Caruso has been downgraded from questionable and won’t play Saturday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a strained right calf, while Anthony Davis is listed with his now customary probable designation with a sore right shoulder. With the Lakers getting healthier in recent days, Caruso has been limited to 21 or fewer minutes in each of the previous three games, so Quinn Cook will be the likeliest candidate to step into Caruso’s vacated role with the second unit while Troy Daniels could possibly rejoin the rotation if head coach Frank Vogel doesn’t opt to condense his rotation to nine players sans Caruso this evening.
As reported by: Mike Trudell via Twitter Derrick White (foot) will start Saturday
As expected, White will play in Saturday’s matchup against the New York Knicks after missing two games with a sore left foot, while Dejounte Murray will sit for recovery purposes on the second leg of a back-to-back set. Murray rejoined the starting lineup in Friday’s loss, but he was still limited to just 23 minutes as the Spurs continue to be ultra-cautious with his minute totals in the early going of the season. There’s been no report of a potential minute restriction for White in his first game back, so he’ll likely be a full-go and should share the point guard minutes with Patty Mills, who was extremely effective for fantasy purposes in 30 minutes of action in his most recent spot start in Wednesday’s loss.
Kevin Love (back) out Saturday; Larry Nance Jr. will start
Love has been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a low back contusion that also forced him to miss Monday’s loss. Larry Nance Jr. was also unavailable in that contest, so he will step into the starting lineup this time around, and he was phenomenal from a fantasy perspective in his previous spot start in 35 minutes of action in Wednesday’s loss, setting him up for a possible encore performance this evening. Kevin Porter Jr. doesn’t have a stable minute floor, but he could be an intriguing punt in tournament formats considering he has a 22.8% usage and is averaging 0.88 DraftKings and 0.86 FanDuel points per minute with Love off the court this season.
As reported by: Spencer Davies via Twitter Other tagged players: Larry Nance Jr.