DFS Alerts
NBA Injury Rundown - Wednesday, 2/6
Denver Nuggets – Paul Millsap (Q), Jamal Murray (Q), Gary Harris (O), Isaiah Thomas (O), Michael Porter Jr. (O)
Brooklyn Nets – Allen Crabbe (P), Caris LeVert (O), Jared Dudley (O), Spencer Dinwiddie (O)
Washington Wizards – Troy Brown Jr. (O), Markieff Morris (O), Dwight Howard (O), John Wall (O)
New Orleans Pelicans – Julius Randle (Q), Anthony Davis (D), Nikola Mirotic (D), Elfrid Payton (O), E’Twaun Moore (O)
Chicago Bulls – Wayne Selden (P), Chandler Hutchison (O), Wendell Carter Jr. (O), Denzel Valentine (O)
Phoenix Suns – Devin Booker (Q), T.J. Warren (O), De’Anthony Melton (O)
Utah Jazz – Raul Neto (P), Dante Exum (O), Thabo Sefolosha (O), Tony Bradley (O)
Houston Rockets – Eric Gordon (Q), Clint Capela (O)
San Antonio Spurs – DeMar DeRozan (O), LaMarcus Aldridge (O), Derrick White (O), Dejounte Murray (O)
J.J. Redick (illness) out Tuesday
Redick is a late scratch from the Sixers’ starting lineup and won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors due to an illness, while Wilson Chandler is expected to be sidelined for two-to-three weeks with a strained right quad and Shake Milton is out indefinitely with a fractured finger. This will leave the Sixers relatively thin in the backcourt and will allow Landry Shamet to draw a second straight start at shooting guard following a dismal fantasy performance in 34 minutes of action in Saturday’s loss. The Sixers also opted to not sign Corey Brewer to a contract for the remainder of the season, so that should lead to Furkan Korkmaz seeing his first extended action off the bench in quite some time. Still, expect the big three of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Jimmy Butler to handle a heavy minute load in tonight’s contest, and Butler also owns a 30.3% usage rate (+5.8%) and is averaging 1.26 fantasy points per minute with Redick and Chandler off the court.
As reported by: Kyle Neubeck via Twitter Jeff Teague (foot) officially out Tuesday
Teague has officially been downgraded from doubtful and won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a sore left foot that has now forced him to miss seven consecutive games, and he’ll join Derrick Rose, Tyus Jones, and Robert Covington on the Timberwolves’ inactive list for tonight’s contest. In their absences, Jerryd Bayless and Isaiah Canaan should absorb nearly all of the point guard minutes, and Bayless has still logged at least 35 minutes in each of the previous four games even with Rose playing 20 minutes off the bench in Saturday’s loss. While Bayless will sustain his high minute floor, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns have been the other beneficiaries with Teague, Rose, Jones, and Covington off the court, as they each own at least a +2.5% usage rate differential and experience a minimum of a +0.11 increase to their per minute fantasy production in the aforementioned scenario.
As reported by: Timberwolves PR via Twitter Marc Gasol, JaMychal Green (knee), and Joakim Noah (heel) out Tuesday
Gasol is a late addition to the Grizzlies’ injury report and won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to precautionary reasons as the Grizzlies continue to finalize a trade involving the veteran big man. Meanwhile, JaMychal Green and Joakim Noah have both been ruled out with their respective ailments, leaving Memphis paper thin in the frontcourt for tonight’s contest. In their absences, Ivan Rabb appears to be the likeliest candidate to enter the starting lineup alongside Jaren Jackson Jr., and he’ll be an elite value option for all formats given his average of 1.01 DraftKings and 0.99 FanDuel points per minute on the season. Since the Grizzlies are without three regular starters and several key rotation pieces, there isn’t a tremendous sample size with all of them off the court, but in that limited time, Jackson Jr. owns a 23.3% usage rate and is averaging 1.28 DraftKings and 1.32 FanDuel points per minute, making him an elite mid-range option on tonight’s eight-game slate.
As reported by: Michael Wallace via Twitter Other tagged players: JaMychal Green, Joakim Noah Myles Turner (thigh) available to play Tuesday
Turner has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers despite dealing with a bruised right thigh, while Doug McDermott and Victor Oladipo remain sidelined with their respective ailments. There’s been no reported minute restriction for Turner, so he’ll presumably start at his customary center position and be a full-go barring an in-game setback. However, if he’ limited in any way, Tyreke Evans has actually been a significant beneficiary with Turner and Oladipo off the court this season, as he owns a 31.9% usage rate (+3.9%) and is averaging 1.13 fantasy points per minute, but his minute floor has been extremely volatile of late and has not played more than 19 minutes in either of the Pacers previous two games. For this reason, Domantas Sabonis would be the clear player to target, and he is averaging 1.40 fantasy points per minute in the aforementioned scenario.
As reported by: the Indiana Pacers via Twitter Mitchell Robinson (illness) available to play Tuesday
Robinson has officially been upgraded from probable and will be available to play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons after missing one game due to an illness, while Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay remain sidelined with their respective ailments. The Knicks rotation is a bit in flux at the moment with DeAndre Jordan, Dennis Smith Jr., and Wesley Matthews all making their Knicks debut in Sunday’s loss, and they each logged between 26-30 minutes, which limits their ceiling in daily fantasy formats and limits the minute floors of the remaining members of the rotation as well. In Robinson’s absence, Luke Kornet served as the backup center and played 20 minutes off the bench, so it’ll be interesting to see how head coach David Fizdale distributes playing time in the second unit with Robinson projected to assume the backup center role, which puts Kornet and Mario Hezonja in danger of becoming regular DNP-CDs for however long Jordan and Matthews are a part of this rebuilding Knicks team.
As reported by: Chris Iseman via Twitter Abdel Nader (illness) listed as available Tuesday
Nader has been upgraded from questionable on the most recent version of the Thunder’s injury report and is listed as available to play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic after missing one game due to an illness. With Nader unavailable, head coach Billy Donovan utilized a nine-man rotation with Hamidou Diallo logging just 10 minutes off the bench, so Dennis Schroder, Terrance Ferguson, and Paul George ended up absorbing nearly all of the available wing minutes in Nader’s absence.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Jonathon Simmons (oblique) listed out Tuesday
Simmons has been listed out on the most recent version of the Magic’s injury report and won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup due to a strained oblique that has now forced him to miss three consecutive games, while Mohamed Bamba will miss a second straight contest with a stress fracture in his left lower leg and is expected to be out indefinitely. In Simmons’ absence, Wes Iwundu has entered the rotation following a stretch of four straight DNP-CDs and averaged 17.4 minutes off the bench in the last two games, while Isaiah Briscoe reclaimed the backup point guard role from Jerian Grant and has averaged 20.9 minutes at both guard positions in the second unit. Meanwhile, Terrance Ross is coming off of a dismal fantasy performance in just 26 minutes of action his last time out, but he does still own a 24.7% usage rate and is averaging 0.90 DraftKings and 0.89 FanDuel points per minute on the season and should theoretically have a higher minute floor with Simmons sidelined.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Cody Zeller (hand) will play off the bench Tuesday
Zeller has officially been upgraded from probable and will be available to play off the bench in Tuesday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers after missing 16 consecutive games due to a fractured right hand, while Tony Parker remains probable with a sore right ankle on the front end of the Hornets upcoming back-to-back set. There’s been no confirmation if Zeller will be subject to a minute restriction in his return, but the news of him coming off the bench means Bismack Biyombo will remain in the starting lineup for at least one additional game. Biyombo’s playing time of late has been sporadic, at best, so he couldn’t be relied upon in daily fantasy formats even if Zeller wasn’t back in the fold in the frontcourt rotation. Willy Hernangomez has also seen his minutes dwindle in recent games as head coach James Borrego has begun utilizing Miles Bridges at center in small lineup combinations more often, making the Hornets frontcourt an easy situation to avoid on a sizable eight-game slate.
As reported by: Charlotte Hornets PR via Twitter The Value Pivot
Marcus Morris was originally a player I was very interested in tonight, but things have changed with news that he is out. Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward should benefit the most in terms of playing time, and Brown should be heavily involved in the offense with Kyrie Irving also out. The price tag is too cheap given his expected role, making Brown a great option in all game formats.
Leverage Play
I think Daniel Theis is going to get a lot of love tonight, and while I think he’s a good punt play, I think we can gain leverage on the field using Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk has seen extended minutes in back-to-back games for the Heat. He’s taking a lot of shots off the bench and could be very useful to extend the defense in this matchup. I know the minutes are the risky part of playing Olynyk, but we should get him at half the ownership of Theis.
Let's Roll The Dice
If you’re looking for a complete flyer on this slate, T.J. McConnell is that guy for me. McConnell is really cheap on DraftKings and FantasyDraft. He has at least 20 fantasy points in five of the last six games. With Brewer not signed and Wilson Chandler out, McConnell could pick up a few extra minutes in this game. He’s really risky but I’m going to roll the dice on him in this spot.
Upside In A Tough Matchup
Cleveland has a tough matchup against Boston tonight, but with so many injuries, there is a lot of opportunities and minutes for this team. Jordan Clarkson continues to be my favorite tournament play from this team, and I still think he has the highest ceiling among these options. Clarkson has played 330 minutes with all of these guys off the floor and has a 30.7% usage rate with 1.09 fantasy point per minute.
Top Value Option For Me
With Irving and Morris ruled out for tonight’s game, Jaylen Brown becomes a top value play on the slate. Cleveland ranks 30th in defensive efficiency this season, and bottom three against point guards, small forwards, and power forwards. Brown has a 24.6% usage rate and averages 1.0 fantasy point per minute. Brown has over 30 fantasy points in each of the last three games with Irving, and one of those games was against this Cleveland team.
Ish Smith (rest) listed out Tuesday
Smith has been listed out on the most recent version of the Pistons’ injury report and won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup against the New York Knicks due to rest purposes on the second leg of a back-to-back set as the team tries to manage his workload after an extended injury-related hiatus. Smith eclipsed the 20-minute mark in Tuesday’s loss for the first time since returning from a right adductor injury, and a large portion of his vacated playing time in the second unit should be absorbed by Jose Calderon, who accrued a DNP-CD and was limited to just six minutes of garbage time in the Pistons previous two games. The absence of Smith is also a boon to the projected minute floor of Reggie Jackson, as he’s logged at least 35 minutes in four of the last five contests, three of which coming while Smith was sidelined. On top of that, Jackson is second on the team with a 24.8% usage rate and is averaging 0.92 DraftKings and 0.89 FanDuel points per minute on the year.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report