DFS Alerts
Safe Starter With Value And Upside
Bjelica is not the most run roster on the planet but we know that he is going to get minutes and start. He is too cheap and also has upside. The one downside here is the difficult match-up against a slow paced Utah team. Still feel like this is too good of a spot to move away from Bjelica and should be a great value play with 40 point upside.
Price That's Too Cheap
Jaylen Brown is just not priced appropriately for the new situation he is in. He has more responsibilities in this offense and we are still getting the price from last year. He is also shooting guard eligible, which is not the best position to roster players. Having the ability to plug in a nice value like this is great. Jump on him now before the price goes up.
Daniel Theis (ankle) out Saturday
Theis sustained a sprained left ankle early in Friday’s win over the Toronto Raptors, and despite returning to that game after a brief exit, he’s officially been ruled out of Saturday’s matchup against the New York Knicks due to the same ailment. Even with Theis playing abbreviated minutes, Robert Williams still only managed to log 15 minutes of court time, as Celtics head coach Brad Stevens opted to get creative at the center spot for extended stretches with both Grant Williams and Jayson Tatum recording time at the five in small lineup combinations.
As reported by: Brian Robb via Twitter
Jrue Holiday (knee) out Saturday
Holiday has popped up on the Pelicans’ injury and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets due to a sprained left knee. There’s yet to be any inclination on who might replace Holiday in the starting lineup, but Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Frank Jackson appear to be the leading candidates if head coach Alvin Gentry prefers to keep his rotation relatively intact, as both reserve guards have little-to-no overlap in minutes with Holiday through the first two games of the season. Not only does Alexander-Walker project for a sizable increase in playing time with Holiday sidelined, but he also leads the team with a 29.8% usage rate and is averaging 1.16 FanDuel and 1.19 DraftKings points per minute in a 26.7 minutes sample size with Holiday off the court.
As reported by: Cayleigh Griffin via Twitter Joel Embiid (ankle) out Saturday; Mike Scott (ankle) probable
Embiid has officially been downgraded from questionable and will be held out of Saturday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to a sprained right ankle and dental work stemming from an elbow to the face in Wednesday’s win. Meanwhile, Mike Scott has been upgraded to probable with an ankle sprain, and although he’s technically a candidate to replace Embiid in the starting lineup, head coach Brett Brown consistently opted to roll with one of his bench wings when either Embiid or Al Horford were rested in the preseason. Matisse Thybulle will have the highest minute floor of those aforementioned players no matter if he starts or comes off the bench, but James Ennis, Furkan Korkmaz, and even Shake Milton are also possible options to start alongside Josh Richardson on the wing this evening.
As reported by: Rich Hofmann via Twitter Other tagged players: Mike Scott Site-Specific Value
It is sometimes difficult to sort out sample size variance vs. reality at this stage of the season, but it is also a key chance to make money by being on the early side of noticing trends. In my eyes, that is what we are seeing right now Chicago lottery pick Coby White. He’s an aggressive player who appears ready to thrive in a sixth man role for this team — and it might only be a matter of time before he is starting over Tomas Satoransky at the point. White averaged nearly 20 PPG in the preseason and has looked impressive in his first two regular season games. That includes a 25/6/2 line in 30 minutes last night. DraftKings and FantasyDraft have priced up White a little bit, so he does not make the core for me on those sites. However, White is still far, far too cheap at $4,700 on FanDuel and $12 on Yahoo. I’ll happily play him as part of a cash game core on those two sites.
A Budding Superstar
Through the first two games of the season, Pascal Siakam has a 35% usage rate and a 36% rebounding rate. Only seven Toronto players logged more than eight minutes of court time last night. Short rotations are music to us as DFS players. On this new look Raptors squad sans Kawhi Leonard, Siakam looks poised for a massive season as one of the key pieces for the team. They are obviously going to roll a short rotation on a nightly basis, and Siakam has an impressive, versatile all-around game. He is even chucking a lot of three pointers, with an average of six attempts per game in the first two contests. The sky is the limit here, and even though the price tag is rising, it still feels like there is some value at his current tag. This is a fine matchup against a Bulls team that has question marks up front, and Siakam should have another fantastic game.
Take The Discount
There was a lot of talk about how Westbrook would not have the same fantasy appeal in Houston this year while playing next to another alpha in James Harden. However, it’s not like Westbrook hasn’t played next to other star players before. Sure, Paul George doesn’t carry the same mentality as Harden, but it was still another star player for Westbrook to share the load with. The perceived lower ceiling is also priced into Westbrook’s DFS tags, as his current marks on all sites are significantly lower than they ever were over the last two years. I believe that concern is over-blown. Westbrook had a 24/16/7 line with a 33% usage rate in the opener. It’s business as usual, and he comes at a $1,000+ discount to Harden on FD/DK/FDFT (and $5 on Yahoo). I’ll take the savings.
Rajon Rondo (calf) out Friday
Rondo has officially been downgraded from questionable and will be held out of Friday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz due to a sore right calf that’s now forced him to miss two consecutive games. His absence won’t have an impact on the Lakers’ starting five that consists of LeBron James, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Anthony Davis, and JaVale McGee, but it has the possibility of opening up more minutes for Alex Caruso and Quinn Cook at the guard positions in the second unit. Assuming he’s healthy enough to play, Caruso appears to be firmly ahead of Cook in the rotation, but he was a DNP-CD in Tuesday’s loss, as head coach Frank Vogel turned to Cook and Troy Daniels to absorb a large portion of the reserve guard minutes in the second unit.
As reported by: Dave McMenamin via Twitter Mavericks will start Doncic, Brunson, Lee, Finney-Smith, Porzingis on Friday
Head coach Rick Carlisle has wasted no time shaking up his starting unit in the second game of the season, as Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith will draw the starts in Friday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, which will send Delon Wright and Maxi Kleber to the bench to assume reserve roles. However, all four of the aforementioned players logged at least 21 minutes in Wednesday’s season opener, so it seems unlikely any of them will see a significant change in playing time regardless of being in the first or second unit. Finney-Smith led the way with 32 minutes in that contest, which awards him the safest minute floor of the bunch considering he has also moved into the starting lineup.
As reported by: Mark Followill via Twitter Other tagged players: Dorian Finney-Smith, Delon Wright, Maxi Kleber Otto Porter will be limited to a maximum of 24 minutes on Friday
Otto Porter will be limited to a maximum of 24 minutes on Friday to “manage him appropriately” in order to play tomorrow, although the Bulls still aren’t sure he will. Regardless, it sounds like they will take it easy on Porter this evening, and 27 minutes probably isn’t enough to make him a viable cash or GPP target. We initially had him projected for minutes in the low-to-mid 30s, so some of those will shade to Thaddeus Young with guys like Coby White and Kris Dunn also potentially seeing an extra minute or two. Lauri Markkanen is the top DFS target on the Chicago side tonight, and while the industry doesn’t seem to be terribly high on the Bulls in general, they do have some tournament appeal against a Memphis team that will play much faster this year.
As reported by: K.C. Johnson Other tagged players: Thaddeus Young
Bismack Biyombo will start in place of Cody Zeller (personal) on Friday
Hornets head coach James Borrego confirmed with reporters at their morning shootaround that Zeller would not be available for Friday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to a personal reason. In his absence, Bismack Biyombo will receive the starting nod at the center spot, but Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer believes that Marvin Williams will still see substantial minutes at the five off the bench in an effort to guard Karl-Anthony Towns on the perimeter. This claim is also be supported by how Borrego utilized his rotation in Wednesday’s win, even with Zeller active, as Williams logged nearly 13 of his 17 total minutes as the backup center in that contest.
As reported by: Rod Boone via Twitter Daniel Theis will start in place Enes Kanter (knee) on Friday
As expected, Theis will receive the starting nod at the center position for Friday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors after Enes Kanter was previously ruled out for at least two games due to a left knee contusion. In theory, Theis should have a solid minute floor with the 25 minutes Kanter recorded in Wednesday’s loss up for grabs, but head coach Brad Stevens had some concerning quotes during his pregame media availability that he was comfortable playing all of the Celtics active centers, including Vincent Poirer, which could mean that he legitimately wouldn’t mind utilizing a three-center committee and would make Theis a worthy fade at his projected ownership in large-field tournament formats.
As reported by: Mark Murphy via Twitter Mitchell Robinson (ankle) will start Friday
Robinson has been upgraded from questionable and will make his season debut in Friday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets after missing the previous game due to a sprained right ankle. His return will send Bobby Portis to the bench to assume a reserve role, but it seems unlikely he would see a drastic decline in minutes following a decent performance in 33 minutes of action in Wednesday’s loss. Robinson and Portis essentially split the starting center duties for the duration of the preseason, and head coach David Fizdale has shown the propensity to ride the hot hand at a number of positions in his rotation far too often to feel comfortable rostering either Knicks big man in daily fantasy formats this evening.
As reported by: Ian Begley via Twitter Bojan Bogdanovic (ankle) out Friday
Bogdanovic has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a sprained left ankle he sustained during Tuesday’s season opener. His absence is a huge blow to the Jazz’s perimeter scoring, and either Jeff Green or Joe Ingles will likely enter the starting lineup at power forward, though Green would appear to be the favored candidate considering head coach Quin Snyder typically prefers to bring Ingles off the bench as the sixth man. Before exiting with an injury, Bogdanovic was second on the team with a 30.6% usage rate, which, theoretically, should open up more opportunities for Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, and the remaining members of the starting unit.
As reported by: Eric Walden via Twitter