DFS Alerts
Kyle Kuzma (back) out Sunday
Kuzma has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to a lower back contusion that has now forced him to miss two consecutive games. With LeBron James and Rajon Rondo still sidelined with their respective ailments, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope received the starting nod alongside Brandon Ingram in the frontcourt and logged 36 minutes in Friday’s loss, while Michael Beasley recorded 12 minutes off the bench and actually replaced Josh Hart in the starting lineup to begin the second half of that contest. Unsurprisingly, Ingram has been the primary beneficiary with Kuzma, James, and Rondo off the court this season, as he owns a 32.3% usage rate (+8.0%) and is averaging 1.09 DraftKings and 1.07 FanDuel points per minute in a 142.8 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Tania Ganguli via Twitter
Derrick Rose (ankle) out Sunday
Rose has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matinee against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a sprained right ankle that’s now forced him to miss five consecutive games, while Robert Covington is expected to still be sidelined for an extended period with a bone bruise in his right knee. Jeff Teague returned to the starting lineup for Friday’s win and managed to exceed his salary-based expectations in just under 29 minutes of action, so he should be expected to see close to his normal minute allotment in today’s contest. There isn’t an extensive sample size with Rose and Covington off the court together this season, but in that time, Karl-Anthony Towns owns a 34.1% usage rate (+5.5%) and is averaging 1.69 DraftKings and 1.69 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.
As reported by: Dane Moore via Twitter Jeremy Lamb (hamstring) questionable Sunday
Lamb has officially been upgraded to questionable on the Hornets’ injury report for Sunday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to a strained right hamstring that’s already forced him to miss two consecutive games, while Cody Zeller remains sidelined and is expected to miss an additional four-to-six weeks after undergoing surgery on his right hand. This means that Bismack Biyombo will likely draw another start at center after crushing his salary-based expectations in 30 minutes of action in Saturday’s loss. If Lamb is cleared to play, Devonte’ Graham would head back to the bench to resume a reserve role following a couple of serviceable fantasy outings in an average of 30 minutes over the Hornets’ last two games. There’s been no word if Lamb would be subject to a minute restriction, but he’s a relatively easy player to avoid in daily fantasy formats given his lack of consistent upside for tournaments.
As reported by: Charlotte Hornets PR via Twitter Opportunity Knocks
Kawhi Leonard is out for rest purposes tonight, after the Raptors originally stated he would play on both ends of the back-to-back set. Kyle Lowry remains questionable. I want to wait for word on Lowry before adding anyone as a 100% lock play in an unfavorable matchup against the Pacers. For now, I would lean toward an upgrade for both Ibaka and Siakam, with both on the fringe of core play status. Ibaka would be my first choice, as CourtIQ tells us that he sees a 5% usage bump and scores nearly 10 additional FPTS per 36 minutes with Leonard off the floor this year. I’m tagging him in LUHQ as the fourth core play for now.
Upside At A Thin Position
I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to include Devin Booker or Bradley Beal here, and I’ve (sort of) settled on Booker as the guy. Booker is slightly cheaper on every site, which is good enough for a tie-breaker in general, but I also like Booker’s matchup just a little more. Beal has a tough matchup against a Thunder squad that leads the league in defensive efficiency and is likely to put Paul George on Beal at times, while Booker gets a matchup against the Hornets in what could be more of a wide-open game. The depth on the wing spots deteriorates in a hurry on this slate, so I do think we need to pay up for one player. Booker is the unquestioned leader of this Suns squad and is now healthy again, so it’s only a matter of time before we see him putting up 50+ fantasy points on a regular basis again. I think he could very well return to that form tonight.
Dirt Cheap Value
This is the perfect example of how things can change on a dime in DFS. Cody Zeller was humming along as a nice value play for the Hornets virtually all season long, yet nobody was rostering him on a daily basis. The price tag didn’t move much, and he generally plodded his way to around 22-25 fantasy points in most games. Then, he got hurt. Enter Wily Hernangomez. Suddenly, he was announced as the starter and was something like 75% owned on the slate when he drew his first start. I’m not looking back at the box score right now, but Charlotte lost that game by approximately 160 points. After just one game, it was time for a change. Enter Bismack Biyombo. The gritty veteran drew the start on Saturday against the Nuggets and played well with 16 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks over 30 minutes. It seems like he would be guaranteed the starting role and most of the minutes tonight, but it is worth noting that Nikola Jokic went off for a 39/12/6 line against Biyombo yesterday. That leaves a little bit of doubt in my mind about this role 100% belonging to Biyombo. The good news is that the price tag remains barely above minimum salary on all sites, and at worst we should expect a 50/50 split in minutes here. That’s enough to make Biyombo a core cash game piece for me tonight after he went for 40 fantasy points yesterday at a similar tag. The matchup is a good one against a poor Suns team, and there’s not much “bust” risk at this salary. Start your lineups with Biyombo as a value, which will help you fit some studs into your lineup on this short slate.
Top Option On The Board
Assuming we start our lineups with Biyombo tonight, we can certainly make it a priority to fit the best player on the slate. Russell Westbrook is obviously the best player on the slate. He draws a great matchup against a Wizards team that is banged up and has no answers for Westbrook on the defensive end of the floor. Tomas Satoransky is not going to slow down Westbrook, and even if they put Beal on him, I am not concerned. As was the case last year, Westbrook is again averaging a triple-double on a per-game basis this year, and the floor/ceiling combination is something that you simply can’t fade on a four game slate. It’s that simple for me. Oklahoma City has the highest implied team total on the board, and Westbrook still ranks among the NBA leaders with a usage rate over 30%. Fading him at 40%+ ownership on a short slate is playing with fire. Don’t get that cute in cash games.
Lowry's Status
Kyle Lowry’s status is going to dictate just how good of a play Fred VanVleet is on Sunday. Kawhi Leonard has already been declared out against the Pacers which should help solidify FVV’s playing time regardless of Lowry’s status but if Lowry is unable to suit up VanVleet should be locked into a mid-to-high 30 minute workload. With Lowry active, FVV can be considered a secondary play in all formats – with Lowry inactive, FVV should be a core piece of your lineups.
Whoever Draws the Start
The Suns interior defense has been laughable this season – they’re allowing the highest frequency of shot attempts at the rim (40.8%), the fifth highest field goal percentage at the rim (65.9%), and are allowing the third highest offensive rebounding rate (28.5%). This is a tremendous matchup for whoever draws the start at Center on Sunday for the Hornets in Zeller’s absence. The assumption is that Biyombo will draw another start after a solid 16/12 line in 30 minutes on Sunday and if he does he is easily the top cash game value option on Sunday’s slate.
Other tagged players: Willy Hernangomez #NotGood
Westbrook’s shooting this season has been #NotGood. His 45.3% effective field goal percentage is the worst it has been in nine years. Russell has REALLY struggled from deep shooting 24.8% from three point land which places him in the bottom second-percentile in the league. Despite his woeful shooting RWB has remained a strong fantasy option tallying less than 40 fantasy points just once in his last ten games. There isn’t a whole lot of star power to spend salary on in Sunday’s main slate and Westbrook owns the top raw projection by a wide margin making him a priority spend.
Kawhi Leonard (rest) out Sunday; Kyle Lowry (back) questionable
Leonard has officially been ruled out for Sunday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers due to rest purposes, despite head coach Nick Nurse originally confirming with reporters that the plan was for Leonard to play in both legs of the Raptors current back-to-back set, while Lowry is considered questionable with lower back pain that has already forced him to miss six consecutive games. Lowry has been significantly ramping up his workouts in recent days, so he appears to be nearing a return to the lineup, and if he’s able to do so for tonight’s contest, he would likely assume Leonard’s place in the starting lineup. There’s been no word if Lowry would be subject to a minute restriction if he’s cleared to play, but if he is a full-go, he’d be an intriguing tournament target, as he owns a 25.2% usage rate and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.43 FanDuel points per minute with Leonard and Jonas Valanciunas off the court this season.
As reported by: Blake Murphy via Twitter Other tagged players: Kyle Lowry Maurice Harkless (knee) out Saturday
Harkless has officially been downgraded from probable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets due to what’s been categorized on the Trail Blazers’ injury report as a left knee issue. Head coach Terry Stotts confirmed with reporters prior to Friday’s loss that the plan is for Harkless to play in both legs of the Trail Blazers’ current back-to-back set, but that apparently changed sometime along the way, and Harkless has now missed one game in each of the last three back-to-back situations. Jake Layman has typically started at small forward when Harkless is unavailable, but the last time he was sidelined, Evan Turner received the starting nod instead and logged 23 minutes in a blowout win, making him the preferred target of the two in tournament formats regardless of starting lineup.
As reported by: Jason Quick via Twitter Marc Gasol (hamstring) will start Saturday
Gasol has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Saturday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs despite dealing with a sore left hamstring, while Mike Conley will also play in the Grizzlies second leg of a back-to-back set after originally being listed as probable with a sore left shoulder. Conley quelled any concerns about his effectiveness while hampered by his ailing shoulder in Friday’s loss, as he demolished his salary-based expectations in nearly 38 minutes of action. The availability of Gasol does temper expectations for other members of the frontcourt rotation like JaMychal Green, Joakim Noah, and Jaren Jackson Jr., though Jackson Jr. remains in consideration for tournaments given his immense upside at his price tag.
As reported by: Jeff McDonald via Twitter Iman Shumpert (finger) out Saturday
Shumpert is a late addition to the Kings’ injury report and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors due to a strained right index finger, while Marvin Bagley III will remain sidelined for his 11th consecutive game with a bone bruise in his left knee. In Shumpert’s absence, Bogdan Bogdanovic will almost assuredly draw the start at small forward in his place and typically has a significant minute floor with both Shumpert and Bagley unavailable, as head coach Dave Joerger is forced to utilize Justin Jackson as the primary backup behind Nemanja Bjelica at power forward. De’Aaron Fox has been the main beneficiary from a usage standpoint with a +3.0% usage rate differential (29.1%) with Shumpert and Bagley off the court this season, but Bogdanovic has capitalized the most from a production perspective, averaging 1.10 DraftKings and 1.08 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.
As reported by: Sean Cunningham via Twitter Marc Gasol (hamstring) expected to play Saturday
Gasol technically remains listed as questionable, but head coach JB Bickerstaff expects him to play in Saturday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs despite dealing with a sore left hamstring, while Mike Conley will play in the Grizzlies second leg of a back-to-back set this evening. Conley quelled any concerns about his effectiveness while hampered by his ailing shoulder in Friday’s loss, as demolished his salary-based expectations in nearly 38 minutes of action. The likely availability of Gasol tempers expectations for other members of the frontcourt rotation like JaMychal Green, Joakim Noah, and Jaren Jackson Jr., though Jackson Jr. remains in consideration for tournaments given his immense upside.
As reported by: Michael Wallace via Twitter