DFS Alerts

Need Value

Harden’s price is getting to the point where he’s no longer a lock in cash games unless there’s strong value on the slate that you can fill the rest of your lineup with. I’m currently writing this at a time where there projects to be plenty of value available (Zaza, ORL value, et al) but if value dries up Harden is far from a cash game lock. Harden’s streak has been unreal as he’s scored 32+ points in 18 straight games and is averaging 42.2 points, 9.1 assists, and 7.6 rebounds per game. That type of production is extremely difficult to pass up no matter the price tag and Harden has by far the highest floor of the slate.

Lou Williams (hamstring) out Friday

Williams is a late scratch from the Clippers lineup and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors due to a sore right hamstring, despite never being listed on the injury report at any point throughout the day. Williams has been a key cog in the Clippers second unit for a majority of the season, so his absence will open up a plethora of minutes in the backcourt for the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Patrick Beverley this evening. With Williams spending the majority of his playing time with the second unit, there’s not really a direct beneficiary from usage or production standpoints with him off the court, but Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, and Montrezl Harrell will all be relied upon to pick up some of the scoring slack in Williams’ absence, making them all fine tournament options on tonight’s slates.

Maurice Harkless (knee) available to play Friday

Harkless has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Friday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans after missing six of the last seven games due to a sore left knee. There’s been no word from the Trail Blazers or head coach Terry Stotts if Harkless will be subject to a minute restriction in his return, but he’ll likely reclaim his typical spot in the starting lineup from Jake Layman, who has continued to be irrelevant for daily fantasy formats in an average of 23.4 minutes over the last four games. Layman will certainly see his role diminished as a member of the Blazers reserves, but he still has a chance to stick in the rotation over Nik Stauskas, as Stauskas was on the receiving end of three straight DNP-CDs prior to Harkless’ latest absence and has averaged just 13 minutes in the last five contests with him sidelined.

DeMar DeRozan (undisclosed) out Friday; Pau Gasol will start

DeRozan is a late scratch from the Spurs lineup and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to an undisclosed reason. In his absence, Pau Gasol will enter the starting lineup at center alongside LaMarcus Aldridge in the frontcourt, but he’s yet to eclipse the 20-minute mark in any contest since returning from injury and averaged just over 15 minutes per game in his most recent stint as a spot starter. Unsurprisingly, the absence of DeRozan frees up a ton of usage in for the remaining starters like Aldridge and Rudy Gay and each own at least a +6.5% usage rate differential with DeRozan off the court, while Aldridge leads the way with a 37.3% usage rate and is averaging 1.53 DraftKings and 1.51 FanDuel points per minute. Gay also averages 1.30 fantasy points per minute in this scenario, but he was limited to just 22 minutes in his first game back from a sprained left wrist, relegating him to a tournament-only option because of his low-minute floor.

Josh Richardson (illness) out Friday; Wayne Ellington (illness) available to play

Richardson has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to an illness that also forced him to miss shootaround this morning, while Ellington and Tyler Johnson have been cleared to play despite battling the same illness in recent days. Additionally, in Richardson’s absence, Johnson appears to be the likeliest candidate to join the starting lineup. Miami is still without Goran Dragic after he underwent a procedure on his right knee, which has enabled Justise Winslow to continue serving as the de facto point guard in the starting unit, and he’s logged at least 30 minutes in eight of the last 12 games even with Johnson and Dwyane Wade competing for minutes behind him in the backcourt rotation. Over that span, Winslow leads the Heat starters with a 25.8% usage rate and is averaging 1.16 DraftKings and 1.16 FanDuel points per minute, keeping him firmly in consideration for all formats, even at an elevated price tag across the industry.

Multiple GPP Options Available in this Game

Brooklyn ranks 25th in points in the paint allowed this season, so Orlando big men Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic are appealing targets in tonight’s matchup against the Nets, but there are some other players to like from this game as well. Brooklyn guard D’Angelo Russell has averaged 22.7 points and 7.7 assists over his past three games and holds a six-inch height advantage over Orlando guard D.J. Augustin. On the other side of the court, forward Jonathan Isaac is cheap across sites and particularly on DraftKings at $3,600, and has averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds over his past three games.

Targeting Big Men Facing Center-Depleted Team

The Cleveland Cavaliers are facing a massive size differential tonight, missing center Tristan Thompson and already without Kevin Love and Larry Nance, so their only big men left are Ante Zizic and Channing Frye. Already ranking 20th in rebound differential on the season and sitting as 15 point underdogs, they will have a difficult time defending Utah’s size inside the paint. Center Rudy Gobert is the primary candidate to target, and forwards Jae Crowder and Derrick Favors could put up big numbers against the Cavs tonight as well.

Jon Leuer (illness) listed out Friday

Leuer has been listed out on the most recent version of the Pistons’ injury report for Friday’s matchup against the Miami Heat due to an illness, while Ish Smith, Stanley Johnson, and Khyri Thomas all remain listed as probable with their respective ailments. Zaza Pachulia returned from an eight-game injury hiatus in Wednesday’s loss and logged 15 minutes off the bench as the backup center behind Andre Drummond, which forced Leuer to be a DNP-CD after he averaged 13.8 minutes per game for the duration of Pachulia’s absence. Cleary, the impact of Leuer’s unavailability is minimal since he isn’t even guaranteed to see playing time on a night-to-night basis with the Pistons back at full strength in their frontcourt rotation.

Short Handed Jazz

The Jazz backcourt remains shorthanded which has helped carve out a big role for Royce O’Neale who has logged 36+ minutes in three of Utah’s last four games. O’Neale isn’t a consistent fantasy producer but has topped 30 fantasy points in two of the last four games and he couldn’t ask for a better matchup than he gets on Friday. The Jazz will host the Cavs who rank dead last in both points per 100 possessions allowed (118.3) and in effective field goal percentage (55.9%).

Intriguing Value Option in GPPs

Mo Bamba is expected back Friday night against the Nets and makes for an intriguing value option in GPPs. Bamba soaks up all the backup Center minutes which means his playing time is negatively correlated with Nikola Vucevic who is expected to have heavy ownership. Mo is a strong enough per minute producer to pay off his price tag if he strictly sees backup center minutes (~17 minutes) but rates as a positive value if he’s able to log 20+ minutes. 20+ minutes of court time for Bamba likely means a Vuc dud (foul trouble or blowout) which makes Bamba a strong leverage play.

Croatian Big Man

Man, this is an absolutely terrible matchup for the Croatian big man but the Cavs literally have nobody else to run out at the Center position on Friday night. Provided he can avoid foul trouble, Zizic should be in line for 30+ minutes which makes him the top value play of the night at his current price tag. Zizic has been a strong fantasy producer relative to his price tag as he’s averaging just south of a fantasy point per minute in 352 minutes of court time this season. Realistically we’re just looking for Zizic to top 20 fantasy points but he has shown some upside as he’s posted fantasy totals north of 30 points twice in the last three games.

Mohamed Bamba (foot) available to play Friday

Bamba has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Friday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets after missing four consecutive games due to a sore left foot. There’s been no word from the Magic or head coach Steve Clifford if Bamba will be subject to a minute restriction, but that’s unlikely to matter, as Bamba typically only plays minutes in the mid-teens even when at full strength health-wise. Clifford reiterated with reporters earlier in the week that Bamba would reclaim his role in the rotation even with Khem Birch putting together some solid fantasy outings and averaging 15.7 minutes as the backup center behind Nikola Vucevic while Bamba was sidelined. Either way, both big men don’t see enough playing time on a nightly basis to be considered realistic options in daily fantasy formats regardless of how the Magic’s frontcourt rotation shakes out.

Josh Richardson (illness) and Wayne Ellington (illness) questionable Friday, Tyler Johnson (illness) available to play

Richardson and Ellington are both new additions to the Heat’s injury report and are questionable for Friday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to an illness that forced them to miss shootaround this morning, while Johnson has officially been cleared to play despite missing Thursday’s practice with an illness as well. Miami is still without Goran Dragic after he underwent a procedure on his right knee, which has enabled Justise Winslow to continue serving as the de facto point guard in the starting unit, and he’s logged at least 30 minutes in eight of the last 12 games even with Johnson and Dwyane Wade competing for minutes behind him in the backcourt rotation. Over that span, Winslow leads the Heat starters with a 25.8% usage rate and is averaging 1.16 DraftKings and 1.16 FanDuel points per minute, keeping him firmly in consideration for all formats, even at an elevated price tag across the industry.

NBA Injury Rundown - Friday, 1/18

Memphis Grizzlies – Kyle Anderson (O), Dillon Brooks (O)

Miami Heat – Tyler Johnson (Q), Goran Dragic (O)

Detroit Pistons – Ish Smith (P), Stanley Johnson (P), Khyri Thomas (P), Henry Ellenson (Q)

Brooklyn Nets – Jared Dudley (O), Allen Crabbe (O), Caris LeVert (O), Dzanan Musa (O)

Orlando Magic – Mohamed Bamba (Q), Timofey Mozgov (O)

Minnesota Timberwolves – Tyus Jones (O), Robert Covington (O)

Cleveland Cavaliers – Tristan Thompson (O), Larry Nance (O), David Nwaba (O), Kevin Love (O), John Henson (O)

Utah Jazz – Ricky Rubio (O), Dante Exum (O), Raul Neto (O), Thabo Sefolosha (O), Tony Bradley (O)

Portland Trail Blazers – Maurice Harkless (Q), Caleb Swanigan (Q)

Gary Harris (hamstring) available to play Thursday; Will Barton (personal) ruled out

Harris has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Thursday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls after missing five consecutive games due to left hamstring tightness, while Barton is a new addition to the Nuggets’ injury report and has been ruled out for personal reasons. There’s been nor reported minute restriction for Harris, so he’ll presumably reclaim his spot in the starting lineup from Malik Beasley, who was largely effective in his stint as a starter in an average of 35.5 minutes per contest over that span. Even if Beasley resumes a reserve, he’ll most likely absorb a significant portion of the playing time vacated by Barton in the second unit, which keeps him firmly in consideration for tournament formats on tonight’s five-game slate.