DFS Alerts
Swiss Army Knife
Fred VanVleet is a Swiss Army Knife. While the majority of his minutes have been logged as a PG, FVV is typically the player that gets the starting nod regardless of who is out for the Raptors. That is valuable on Saturday night as the previously doubtful Danny Green and Kyle Lowry are now listed as questionable. VanVleet surely makes for a stronger play if Lowry and/or Green is inactive but is still likely to be a center piece of cash game lineups if one or both guys are active.
Make You Sweat
Pascal Siakam has made you sweat a bit if you rostered him the last couple of games with Serge Ibaka out but the young power forward seems to always claw his way to value. In addition to no Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas, the Raptors will also be without Kawhi Leonard on Saturday night which should lock Siakam into extremely heavy minutes at an increased role.
Ridiculous Usage
It’s no surprise that Harden’s already ridiculous usage rate increases with Chris Paul off the court. Harden is the owner of a 41.8% usage rate over the last two seasons when he’s on the court and Chris Paul is not and his per minute production is outrageous (1.67 DK pts, 1.61 FD pts). Harden is a good play regardless of matchup but the matchup just so happens to be a good one against a Spurs team that allows the seventh most points per 100 possessions (111.9) and the seventh higest effective field goal percentage (53.5%).
Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka out Saturday. Kyle Lowry and Danny Green are questionable.
Toronto will be without Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka Saturday against the 76ers. Leonard continues to sit out back-to-backs, and Ibaka remains out with a knee injury. Danny Green and Kyle Lowry have been upgraded to questionable for today’s game they were both thought to be doubtful. If Green and Lowry don’t play today, Fred VanVeleet, Delon Wright and OG Anunoby will all extremely benefit.
As reported by: Tim Bontemps via Twitter Other tagged players: Serge Ibaka, Kyle Lowry, Danny Green
Healthy Opportunity
Here was Nick Nurse’s comment after last night’s game regarding two of his players. Josh Lewenberg, the beat writer for TSN Sports, reported it as: “Nurse says that there’s a chance Green and Lowry play tomorrow, but it’s not a great chance.” In my opinion, that means they are doubtful. Kawhi Leonard has also been ruled out for rest purposes. If these circumstances hold, the Raptors will be without their starting point guard, shooting guard, and small forward. That’s a lot of minutes and a lot of usage to replace. The obvious benefit to VanVleet here is that he is going to start and see close to 40 minutes if Lowry and Green are out. The Raptors simply don’t have any depth in the backcourt, and VanVleet played 38 minutes on Friday against Cleveland. If we run a CourtIQ query with Lowry, Green, and Leonard all off the floor, we see that VanVleet gets a 5% bump in usage and scores six additional fantasy points per 36 minutes on the floor. When you combine the added usage with the added playing time, this is simply a no brainer in a game with a reasonably close spread and a 220 total.
A Value Price Tag And Some Added Opportunity
Assuming Lowry and Green don’t play tonight, we should see Wright slide to the off guard spot to start alongside VanVleet. That’s exactly what the Raptors did on Friday, and Wright played 33 minutes in that contest. While he’s not a massive usage player, he comes in at a fairly significant discount from VanVleet, and we have seen Wright have some very strong fantasy point games in the past. He still managed to get into the low 20’s for fantasy points despite not doing much last night, and I expect a better game here. Again, it’s primarily based on the big bump in minutes moreso than his usage, so this is 100% contingent upon BOTH Lowry and Green being out.
No Paul, No Brainer
Basically, James Harden runs the team when Paul is not out there. His usage rate is a massive 44%, which is an absurd number. He’s scoring well over 60 fantasy points per 36 minutes on the floor. These are just ridiculous marks. I know a matchup against the Spurs isn’t exciting from a pace perspective, but this Spurs defense is NOWHERE near what we have seen in prior years. They have been better lately, but they still rank average to below average in almost every defensive category, and Harden is as matchup proof as they come when Paul is out. Don’t overthink this one. No Paul = Play Harden.
Ivica Zubac will start ahead of Tyson Chandler (illness) on Friday
Head coach Luke Walton has opted to make a change to his starting lineup for Friday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, and he will start Ivica Zubac over Tyson Chander at center with JaVale McGee missing his third consecutive game due to flu-like symptoms. This seems to be an odd lineup change by Walton given the matchup, so it’s possible that this is a way to manage Chandler’s minutes since he is still battling the illness that is making its way around the Lakers’ locker room. Either way, this situation is shaping up as a center by committee and it shouldn’t be expected for Zubac to see substantially more playing time than Chandler or even Moritz Wagner off the bench.
As reported by: Mike Trudell via Twitter Other tagged players: Tyson Chandler
Anthony Davis (illness) available to play Friday
Davis has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Friday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers after previously being considered a game-time decision with an illness, while Julius Randle will make his return from a one-game absence due to a sprained right ankle. The Pelicans are still without Nikola Mirotic, so Randle should slot back into the starting lineup at power forward and will send Darius Miller back to the bench to resume a reserve role following a stellar fantasy performance in his spot start as he crushed salary-based expectations in a whopping 37 minutes of action. Considering he’s carrying an injury designation throughout the entire day, Davis will set up as an intriguing tournament target and he continues to lead the team with a 31.9% usage rate and an average of 1.63 DraftKings and 1.69 FanDuel points per minute this season.
As reported by: Pelicans PR via Twitter Julius Randle (ankle) will play Friday; Nikola Mirotic (ankle) ruled out
Randle has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Friday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing one game due to a sprained right ankle, while Nikola Mirotic has been ruled out and Anthony Davis and Ian Clark remain questionabe. Davis was forced to exit Wednesday’s loss on a couple of occasions because he wasn’t feeling well, and his status for tonight’s contest appears to be legitimately up in the air. If that’s the case, Randle will likely slot in the starting lineup at center and allow Darius Miller to remain at one of the starting forward positions alongside Solomon Hill in the frontcourt. Miller was stellar from a fantasy perspective in his first spot start as he crushed salary-based expectations in a whopping 37 minutes of action. Unsurprisingly, Randle has been the main beneficiary with Davis and Mirotic off the court this season, as he owns a 34.5% usage rate (+6.6%) and is averaging 1.58 DraftKings and 1.54 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.
As reported by: Daniel Sallerson via Twitter Other tagged players: Nikola Mirotic Lebron James (illness) and Tyson Chandler (illness) available to play Friday
James, Chandler, and Ivica Zubac all are available to play in Friday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans after missing shootaround this morning with an illness that is making its way around the Lakers’ locker room, while JaVale McGee will miss his third consecutive game with flu-like symptoms. Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo are set to make their returns from lengthy injury absences, so if James ends up being limited in any way, the Lakers will at least have some additional depth at the forward position and in the backcourt. Additionally, the availability of Ingram will likely send Josh Hart back to the bench to resume a reserve role after he averaged 30.9 minutes in seven games as a starter alongside Lonzo Ball in the backcourt, though he certainly could benefit from more playing time than normal if anyone is hampered by their respective illness.
As reported by: Tania Ganguli via Twitter Other tagged players: Tyson Chandler JaMychal Green (hamstring), Mike Conley (hamstring), and Kyle Anderson (ankle) available to play Friday; Joakim Noah (heel) and Omri Casspi (illness) ruled out
Green, Conley, and Anderson are all available to play in Friday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings despite dealing with their respective ailments, while Joakim Noah and Omri Casspi have both been downgraded from questionable and won’t suit up for tonight’s contest. The absence of Noah should allow Ivan Rabb to remain in the rotation for at least one additional game, but he was limited to just 10 minutes off the bench in Wednesday’s loss, while Wayne Selden rounded out the wing rotation and logged nine minutes himself. As for Conley, he’s been battling a hamstring issue for over a week and missed one game, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting him when he’s on the court, as he’s played at least 37 minutes in each of his last three games.
As reported by: Grizzlies PR via Twitter Other tagged players: Mike Conley, Kyle Anderson, Joakim Noah, Omri Casspi Tyreke Evans (knee) out Friday
Evans has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets due to a bruised right knee. His absence actually shouldn’t have too much of an effect on the remaining members of the wing rotation, as Aaron Holiday is expected to absorb nearly all of Evans’ minute allotment off the bench after being a DNP-CD in both of the Pacers’ previous two games. Evans has only averaged 15.3 minutes in the four games since Victor Oladipo returned from an 11-game injury absence, so Holiday shouldn’t be expected to take over some extravagant reserve role despite his brief stretch of success during Oladipo’s aforementioned injury hiatus. In fact, the last time Evans was unavailable, Holiday only saw 14 minutes and was relatively uninspiring from a fantasy perspective, accruing 8.25 Draftkings and 8.20 FanDuel points, respectively.
As reported by: Jeremiah Johnson via Twitter Cameron Payne (calf) and Jabari Parker (illness) out Friday
Payne has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic due to a calf injury, while Jabari Parker will remain sidelined with an illness. Parker’s absence typically wouldn’t be much of a factor since he’s been out of the rotation of late, but with Bobby Portis ruled out for the next two-to-four weeks, the Bulls will be forced to fill the backup power forward minutes with Chandler Hutchison and should lead to a higher minute floor for Lauri Markkanen and more three-guard lineup combinations in tonight’s contest. With Payne unavailable, Shaquille Harrison is poised to be an intriguing value option after he logged 26 minutes off the bench in Wednesday’s loss. On top of that, he owns a 20.5% usage rate (+1.9%) and is averaging 1.09 DraftKings and 1.15 FanDuel points per minute with Payne, Parker, Portis, and Zach LaVine off the court this season.
As reported by: K.C. Johnson via Twitter Other tagged players: Jabari Parker Andre Drummond (illness) will start Friday
Drummond has officially been upgraded from probable and will start in Friday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets despite battling an illness, while Glenn Robinson III and Ish Smith both remain sidelined because of their respective ailments. Reggie Bullock returned to the Pistons’ starting lineup three games ago and has logged at least 30 minutes in each contest, which has significantly eaten into the minute floors of Luke Kennard, Stanley Johnson, Langston Galloway, and Bruce Brown, who appears to be on his way out of the rotation entirely. Assuming Drummond is a full-go, he’ll be poised as an intriguing tournament target in a matchup with a Hornets squad that ranks 22nd in rebounding percentage, and he owns a 25.0% usage rate with an average of 1.36 DraftKings and 1.41 FanDuel points per minute this season.
As reported by: Rod Beard via Twitter