DFS Alerts

Getting All the Run He Can Handle

We all know that minutes=money in DFS, and Rivers is getting way too many minutes to be ignored on this three-game slate here. Since Rivers got signed by the Rockets, his minutes have gradually been going up (31, 33, 37, 41 in his last four) and tonight he gets a matchup against the GSW. Although he hasn’t been a fantastic point per minute producer, he is taking more and more shots in this offense. Over his last two games he is shooting just 9-33 from the field, so he’s due for some positive regression. As Rivers gets more comfortable in this offense, he’s going to start to get better and more productive. Don’t sleep on him as one of the decent price tags on tonight’s slate.

Kyle Lowry (back) upgraded to questionable Thursday

Lowry will do through shootaround and has officially been upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Wednesday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs after missing four consecutive games due to lower back pain. However, despite the change in status, head coach Nick Nurse admitted to reporters that there is only an “outside chance” that Lowry plays in tonight’s contest. Ultimately, his ability to suit up will likely come down to pain tolerance, and if he’s unable to go, Fred VanVleet should draw another start at point guard and has been relatively underwhelming from a fantasy perspective in an average of 31.7 minutes over the Raptors last four games. Kawhi Leonard continues to lead the team by a wide margin with a 36.9% usage rate (+3.5%) and is averaging 1.36 DraftKings and 1.34 FanDuel points per minute without Lowry on the court this season, making him an elite option on DraftKings in a revenge game versus his former team.

Pay Up At Center

There aren’t a lot of great center options tonight, so the logical step is to pay up for a great floor/ceiling combo with Nikola Jokic. After struggling for a while in December, he has kicked it into high gear of late. He posted a massive triple-double in Denver’s last game and finally appears to be playing with confidence again. Throw in a matchup against a Sacramento team that will look to push the pace and ranks just 22nd in our DvA tool against versatile bigs, and all the makings are there for Jokic to keep on rolling tonight.

Seeking That GPP Upside

Draymond Green hasn’t been his usual stat-stuffing self of late, but the good news is that the rebounding and passing skills have still been there. The shots simply haven’t been falling, and while that is a concern, we know there’s room for improvement. On a short slate, I’m willing to take more chances in GPP formats that we could see a “ceiling” game from Green. We know there is 50-60 fantasy point upside here, and the price tag remains fairly affordable on every DFS site. His defensive ability will be needed against an efficient Houston offense, and I’m comfortable rolling Draymond out there this evening.

Revenge Best Served Hot

Oh, man. I’m not much for narrative street in general, but you know Kawhi Leonard has a hankering to put an absolute monster game up against his former team this evening. You could make an argument to play him based on that alone, but it also helps that the game-related factors are also in his favor. He owns a 36% usage rate with Kyle Lowry off the floor, and he dropped a career-high 45 points in a tough matchup against the Jazz on Tuesday. Leonard will certainly be up to the task of leading his new team in San Antonio against his old team tonight. The upside is massive against a Spurs team that isn’t the same defensive unit anymore.

Major Value If Rudy Gay Remains Sidelined

Finding value is going to be the key to this short Thursday slate, as we have plenty of stars to pay up for but limited sources of value. Bertans will likely be the core value piece for me, provided that Rudy Gay remains out. While it was Poeltl that drew the start in the last game, it was Bertans who picked up the biggest increase in playing time. He was solid over 31 minutes with nearly 30 fantasy points on the day, and he is still priced at $4,000 on FD and $3,800 on DK. Give him a long look tonight.

NBA Injury Rundown - Thursday, 1/3

Toronto Raptors – Kyle Lowry (D), Jonas Valanciunas (O)

San Antonio Spurs – Rudy Gay (D), Dejounte Murray (O)

Denver Nuggets – Will Barton (O), Isaiah Thomas (O), Michael Porter Jr. (O), Jarred Vanderbilt (O)

Sacramento Kings – Marvin Bagley III (D)

Houston Rockets – James Ennis III (Q), Eric Gordon (O), Chris Paul (O)

Golden State Warriors – Jacob Evans (P), DeMarcus Cousins (O), Damian Jones (O)

Joel Embiid (knee) available to play Wednesday

Embiid has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns despite dealing with a sore left knee, while Wilson Chandler and Jimmy Butler have already been ruled out of tonight’s second leg of a back-to-back set as both forwards are battling upper respiratory infections. Their absences will allow Jonah Bolden and Furkan Korkmaz to start at power forward and small forward, respectively. In the two games Butler has missed since joining this Sixers team, Korkmaz has averaged 32 minutes as a starter, which vaults him into consideration as tournament option on tonight’s nine-game slate. Landry Shamet also typically sees an increased role off the bench when Butler is unavailable, and he averaged just over 22 minutes as a member of the second unit in the aforementioned contests. With Butler off the court, both Embiid and Ben Simmons experience similar bumps in usage and production, as each owns a minimum +2.6% usage rate differential and are averaging an additional +0.16 DraftKings and +0.17 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario as well.

Joel Embiid (knee) questionable Wednesday; Wilson Chandler (illness) ruled out

Embiid is a late addition to the Sixers’ injury report and is questionable for Wednesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to a sore left knee, while Wilson Chandler joins Jimmy Butler on the inactive list for tonight’s second leg of a back-to-back set as both forwards are battling an upper respiratory infection. In the two games Butler has missed as a member of this Sixers team, Furkan Korkmaz has started at small forward, and he averaged 32 minutes per start in those contests, vaulting him into consideration as tournament option on tonight’s nine-game slate. Landry Shamet also saw an increased role off the bench when Butler was unavailable, and he averaged just over 22 minutes as a member of the second unit in the aforementioned games. With Butler off the court, both Embiid and Ben Simmons experience similar bumps in usage and production, as each owns a minimum +2.6% usage rate differential and are averaging an additional +0.16 DraftKings and +0.17 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario as well.

Stanley Johnson (quad) will play limited minutes Wednesday

Johnson has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play limited minutes in Wednesday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies after being an active scratch in Tuesday’s loss due to a bruised left quad, while Zaza Pachulia will miss a second straight game, as expected, because of a bruised right lower leg. Pachulia typically ends up playing anywhere from the low to high-teens in terms of minutes depending on the matchup and Andre Drummond’s foul situation, so with Pachulia unavailable, there will certainly be available playing time for Jon Leuer and Blake Griffin to absorb as the pseudo backups to Drummond at center. This sets up Griffin as an intriguing, possibly contrarian, tournament option on tonight’s abbreviated five-game slate if the Pistons can keep the game close, as he continues to lead the Pistons with a 31.0% usage rate and is averaging 1.27 DraftKings and 1.22 FanDuel points per minute on the season.

D.J. Augustin (ankle) will start Wednesday

Augustin managed to participate fully in shootaround Wednesday morning and will start in tonight’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls after missing one game due to a sprained right ankle, while Jonathon Simmons will miss a second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. With Augustin sidelined, Jerian Grant drew the start at point guard and was serviceable from a fantasy perspective in 26 minutes of action, but since Augustin will return to the starting lineup, Grant will head back to the bench to resume a reserve role. Grant had recently been relegated from the rotation in favor of Wesley Iwundu, but he’ll likely take over Simmons vacated minutes as the backup point guard for at least one additional game. There hasn’t been a significant beneficiary from a usage standpoint with both Simmons off the court this season, but Terrance Ross figures to take on an expanded role off the bench and is averaging 0.87 DraftKings points and 0.86 FanDuel points per minute with a 24.2% usage rate on the season.

Anthony Davis (illness) will play Wednesday

Davis has officially been upgraded from probable and will play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets after being a late scratch in the previous game due to an illness, while Nikol Mirotic will remain sidelined for his 10th consecutive game because of a sore right ankle. Elfrid Payton returned from a lengthy injury hiatus in Monday’s win, and he managed to record 24 minutes as the starting point guard in his first game back. However, head coach Alvin Gentry did confirm with reporters during his pregame media availability that Payton will remain on an approximate 25-minute restriction, keeping him out of consideration for daily fantasy formats for at least one additional contest. Davis will be an intriguing tournament target one-game removed from his surprising active scratch, and he continues to lead the Pelicans with a 33.3% usage rate and is averaging 1.68 DraftKings and 1.74 FanDuel points per minute with Mirotic off the court this season.

Jimmy Butler (illness) listed out Wednesday

Butler has been listed out on the most recent version of the Sixers’ injury report and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to an upper respiratory infection. In the two games Butler has missed as a member of this Sixers team, Furkan Korkmaz has started at small forward alongside J.J. Redick on the wing, and he averaged 32 minutes per start in those contests, vaulting him into consideration as tournament option on tonight’s nine-game slate. Landry Shamet also saw an increased role off the bench when Butler was unavailable, and he averaged just over 22 minutes as a member of the Sixers second unit in the aforementioned games. With Butler off the court, both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons experience similar bumps in usage and production, as each owns a minimum +2.6% usage rate differential and are averaging an additional +0.16 DraftKings and +0.17 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario as well.

Dewayne Dedmon (knee) will start Wednesday

Dedmon has officially been upgraded from probable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards after missing two consecutive games due to a sore left knee, while Collins is also available to play despite dealing with flu-like symptoms. Alex Len has started the last two games at center and is coming off of a stellar fantasy performance for his price tag in 25 minutes of action in Monday’s loss, but he’ll head back to the bench to resume his normal backup center role with Dedmon available to make his return to the starting lineup this evening. With Kent Bazemore likely to miss at least two more weeks, Daniel Hamilton will draw another start alongside Kevin Huerter on the wing, but he was limited to 16 minutes in his first spot start, limiting his overall viability for daily fantasy formats. Trae Young has thrived offensively with Bazemore and Taurean Prince off the court this season, as he owns a 33.7% usage rate (+4.9%) and is averaging 1.18 DraftKings and 1.11 FanDuel points per minute in a 216.4 minutes sample size.

Dwyane Wade (illness) out Wednesday; Dion Waiters (ankle) is active

Wade has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to an illness, while Dion Waiters traveled with the team to Cleveland and is available to make his season debut as he continues to recover from left ankle surgery. Wade has really settled in a mid-20s minutes role off the bench with Goran Dragic sidelined, so if Waiters doesn’t play, Tyler Johnson could be in line for a significant increase in playing time as the sole ball-handler behind Justise Winslow in the rotation. On top of that, Johnson owns a 24.5% usage rate and is averaging 0.99 Draftkings and 0.96 FanDuel points per minute with Wade and Dragic off the court this season.