DFS Alerts
Harry Giles III (knee) remains out Sunday
The continued absence of Giles means that the minutes void left behind by Marvin Bagley will need to continue being filled by the other big men on the Kings active roster, and in the four non-blowout games since Bagley was sidelined, Nemanja Bjelicia has played at least 25 minutes as the starting power forward in each contest, while Richaun Holmes has begun to distance himself from Dewayne Dedmon in the center rotation, logging a minimum of 30 minutes in two of the last three games. The other main beneficiary thus far has been De’Aaron Fox, as he owns a 28.8% usage rate and is averaging 1.05 FanDuel and 1.11 DraftKings points per minute with Bagley off the court this season.
As reported by: Sean Cunningham via Twitter
Jimmy Butler (foot) will play Sunday; Justise Winslow (back) remains out
Butler has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Sunday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets despite dealing with a bruised left foot, while Winslow will miss a second straight game with a tight lower back. With Winslow unavailable last time out, Duncan Robinson ended up drawing the start alongside Butler on the wing but was rather ineffective from a fantasy standpoint in 27 minutes of action. Instead, it was Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro that benefited the most from Winslow’s absence, as each logged at least 30 minutes, and Nunn shared the majority of the ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities with Butler in head coach Erik Spoelstra’s starting unit.
As reported by: Anthony Chiang via Twitter Other tagged players: Justise Winslow Domantas Sabonis (calf) out Sunday; Goga Bitadze and Jakarr Sampson will start
Sabonis has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls due to a left calf contusion, With Myles Turner also unavailable, Goga Bitadze will draw the start at center, while Jakarr Sampson replaces TJ Leaf in the starting lineup at power forward following Leaf’s disappointing performance in just eight minutes in Friday’s win. Bitadze began that contest serving as the primary backup behind Sabonis at the center position, but with Leaf getting into early foul trouble, he got his chance to shine and nearly recorded a double-double in 25 minutes of action.
As reported by: Scott Agness via Twitter Other tagged players: Goga Bitadze, JaKarr Sampson Dennis Smith Jr. (personal) listed out Sunday
Smith Jr. remains away from the team and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to a personal matter. With Elfrid Payton still sidelined with a strained hamstring, head coach David Fizdale will stick with Frank Ntilikina as his starting point guard for at least one more game, and Ntilikina has managed to log at least 29 minutes of action in each of his previous two starts, giving him a solid floor for the duration of Smith Jr. and Payton’s absences.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Consistent High-End Option
Doncic has been unbelivable this season filling up all areas of the stat sheet and averaging over 50 fantasy points per game. Luka is nearly averaging a triple-double per game with 26.2 ppg, 8.4 apg, and 9.6 rpg. There are some solid high-end options on this slate but Luka has been the most consistent and still offers a significant discount to James Harden, LeBron, and Anthony Davis.
Brandon Clarke (back) available to play Saturday
Clarke has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Saturday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns despite dealing with a sore back. Prior to Tuesday’s loss, Clarke had consistently been seeing between 21-25 minutes off the bench in the Grizzlies frontcourt, but his decline to 19 minutes in the aforementioned contest looks to be directly correlated to an increase in playing for Jonas Valanciunas, who began the season on a relatively strict minute restriction to begin the season. If that trend continues, Clarke will be a difficult player to trust in tournament formats when Memphis is at full strength.
As reported by: Grizzlies PR via Twitter D'Angelo Russell (ankle) out Saturday
Russell has been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s second leg of a back-to-back set against the Charlotte Hornets due to a sprained right ankle, while Draymond Green is slated to miss a few games with a torn ligament in his left index finger. To say the Golden State roster is depleted by injuries would be an understatement, and with Russell unable to suit up, it leaves them with just nine available players. It’s pretty easy to project that the starting frontcourt will be Willie Cauley-Stein, Eric Paschall, and Glenn Robinson III sans Green, but predicting who will handle most of the point guard duties is much more tricky. However, Ky Bowman served as the direct backup to Russell in Friday’s loss, and he’ll get the first shot at running the point with the first unit as the only natural point guard left on the active roster.
As reported by: Anthony Slater via Twitter Derrick Rose (hamstring) and Tim Frazier (shoulder) out Saturday
Both Rose and Frazier have been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, while Reggie Jackson will miss a fifth straight contest due to lower back tightness. Frazier has been filling in as the Pistons starting point guard with Jackson sidelined and has essentially played 21-22 minutes in each of his spot starts, but he’s been easily outplayed by Rose, who has absorbed a majority of the available point guard playing time, capping out at roughly 27 minutes over this stretch. With both guards unable to suit up, Bruce Brown and Langston Galloway will more than likely assume the ball-handling responsibilities, though neither can be categorized as a natural point guard, which could lead to freshly recalled Jordan Bone receiving some run at the point as well.
As reported by: James Edwards III via Twitter Other tagged players: Tim Frazier Hassan Whiteside (knee) out Saturday
Whiteside has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers due to a bone bruise in his left knee. Portland is already without Zach Collins, Pau Gasol, and Jusuf Nurkic, so they are extremely thin at the center position, leaving the likes of Skal Labissiere, Anthony Tolliver, Mario Hezonja, and maybe even G-League call-up Moses Brown to fill the available minutes at the center spot. However, the individual matchup versus Al Horford is far from ideal, and this Sixers team has been defending at a historic rate through their first four games, making all of the Trail Blazers secondary options, at best, on a seven-game main slate.
As reported by: Casey Holdahl via Twitter D'Angelo Russell (ankle) questionable Saturday; Draymond Green (finger) out
As expected, Green won’t play in Saturday’s second leg of a back-to-back set against the Charlotte Hornets due to a sprained left index finger, while Russell is a surprise addition to the Warriors’ injury report with a sprained right ankle. To say the Golden State roster has been depleted by injuries would be an understatement, and if Russell is unable to suit up, it would leave them with just nine available players for tonight’s contest. It’s pretty easy to project that the starting frontcourt will be Willie Cauley-Stein, Eric Paschall, and Glenn Robinson III sans Green, but predicting who would replace Russell at point guard becomes much more tricky, though Ky Bowman served as the direct backup to Russell in Friday’s loss, making him the leading candidate as the only other natural point guard left on the roster.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Other tagged players: Draymond Green Michael Carter-Williams (hip) officially out Saturday
As expected, Carter-Williams will not play in Saturday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets due to a left hip contusion. Prior to his injury, Carter-Williams had been seeing between 13-17 minutes in each of his first three games of the season, so there will definitely continue to be a noteworthy amount of playing time available in the second unit if head coach Steve Clifford doesn’t allocate those minutes to Wes Iwundu once again, who logged 13 minutes in Friday’s loss. If Clifford opts to just condense his rotation to nine players, then look for Terrence Ross and Markelle Fultz to be the beneficiaries of additional playing time.
As reported by: John Denton via Twitter Will Barton (toe) officially out Saturday
As expected, Barton has been downgraded from doubtful and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic due to left toe inflammation. In his absence, Torrey Craig received the starting nod alongside Gary Harris on the wing and was, as usual, brutal from a fantasy perspective in 20 minutes of action. This did allow Michael Porter Jr. to make his regular-season NBA debut, and he was great in his 21 minutes, but most of his fantasy production came in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s blowout loss, so he’d be difficult to trust on a seven-game main slate barring some drastic change in Malone’s plans for the rotation.
As reported by: Harrison Wind via Twitter Derrick Favors (knee) officially out Saturday
As expected, Favors won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a sore right knee. With Favors still unavailable, Jahlil Okafor is expected to draw a third straight start at center, and he finally saw a sizable workload, logging 34 minutes of action and crushing his salary-based expectations in Thursday’s win. His monopolization of the available center minutes limited both Jaxson Hayes and Kenrich Williams to less than 10 minutes apiece off the bench, essentially eliminating them from consideration for all daily fantasy formats on an eight-game slate.
As reported by: Daniel Sallerson via Twitter Steven Adams (knee) out Saturday; Nerlens Noel (foot) available
Adams will miss a second straight game and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans due to a left knee contusion. Meanwhile, Nerlens Noel has been cleared and will be available to play in tonight’s contest, though head coach Billy Donovan did decline to reveal his starting lineup during his pregame media availability. Noel was extremely effective and efficient in his 28 minutes of action in Wednesday’s loss, so it’d be fairly shocking if he didn’t draw a second consecutive start at center this evening.
As reported by: Maddie Lee via Twitter Other tagged players: Nerlens Noel Usage Void For Minnesota
Karl-Anthony Towns has a 29.2% usage this season thus far, and with his suspension, this opens up a massive number of shots available for the rest of the Timberwolves. Teague & Covington have not been priced up enough on DK to account for this void, and Andrew Wiggins (25.7% usage even with Towns playing) is priced even cheaper on FD at $6600. There will also be 30-35 minutes of front court work available in the rotation that should be filled by Vonleh, Bell & Layman, so having at least one these cheaper value plays in a PF slot on both sites is likely optimal for all formats.
Other tagged players: Jeff Teague, Robert Covington, Jake Layman, Noah Vonleh, Jordan Bell