DFS Alerts
Locked and Loaded
Hardaway Jr has yet to really benefit from Trey Burke’s injury but with Burke out, THJ’s usage and minutes are locked and loaded for as long as the Knicks are able to keep games close. Hardaway only logged 22 minutes in last night’s contest in the front leg of a back-to-back as New York’s reserves closed out a game that was a blowout (the end result doesn’t look like a blowout) so his legs should be fresh for Sunday’s matchup against the Hornets.
Come Off As Contrarian
Aldridge has been a massive disappointment his last handful of games but stylistically a matchup against the Jazz sets up well for his skill-set. Utah has struggled to defend the mid-range this season as they allow 38.2% of their opponents shot attempts to come from mid-range (highest frequency in the league) and allow the fifth highest field goal percentage from mid-range (43%). LMA ranks in the 98th-percentile with 60% of his shots coming from mid-range and and getting his shot off on Sunday should not be an issue. Rostering LMA may come off as a contrarian take but due to the relative lack of strong value at the PF position I do think Aldridge is firmly in the cash game discussion.
Terrible Defensively
People continue to overlook just how bad the Spurs defense has been this season, specifically at the PG position. San Antonio’s starting PG, Bryn Forbes, has the worst defensive rating I have seen this season (118) and his backups Derrick White (116) and Patty Mills (117) have barely been better. For comparison, Ricky Rubio is having a poor defensive season himself with a 108 defensive rating but still has been significantly better than the Spurs trio.
Boban Marjanovic will start ahead of Marcin Gortat on Saturday
Head coach Doc Rivers has opted to make an unforeseen starting lineup change for Saturday’s matchup against the Miami Heat and will start Boban Marjanovic ahead of Marcin Gortat at center. Gortat has played between 15-21 minutes in each of the last four games, so his absence won’t necessarily free up a bunch of playing time in the frontcourt, though Boban will likely assume Gortat’s exact playing time allotment and should be expected to play minutes in the upper-teens this evening. Boban is always worth a shot in tournaments with his 26.1% usage rate and an average of 1.54 DraftKings and 1.57 FanDuel points per minute, but Montrezl Harrell could also be an interesting tournament play, especially if tonight’s game goes small for extended stretches with Hassan Whiteside unavailable for the Heat.
As reported by: Michael Gallagher via Twitter Other tagged players: Marcin Gortat
Josh Richardson (shoulder) out Saturday
Richardson is an extremely late addition to the Heat’s injury report and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a right shoulder impingement, while Hassan Whiteside and Wayne Ellington are still way from the team dealing with personal matters and both will miss their second consecutive game. Miami is also without Goran Dragic for rest purposes on the second leg of a back-to-back, which will force Justise Winslow over the point guard position and allow Tyler Johnson to start alongside him in the backcourt. Winslow was already shaping up to be an intriguing tournament target prior to news he’ll handle a portion the ballhandling responsibilities, as he’s logged at least 31 minutes in each of the Heat’s last three games and is averaging 1.03 DraftKings and 1.05 FanDuel points per minute with Whiteside, Dragic, and Ellington off the court this season
As reported by: the Miami Heat via Twitter Robert Covington (knee) out Saturday; Derrick Rose will start
Covington has surprisingly been downgraded from probable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a sore right knee. Covington is averaging 35.6 minutes over his first 11 games with Minnesota following the trade that shipped Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia just last month, so there will certainly be a significant amount of playing time available on the wing and at the forward positions in his absence. Rose will receive the starting nod alongside Jeff Teague in the backcourt, while Josh Okogie will reenter the rotation an likely see significant minutes off the bench. None of the remaining active Timberwolves see a substantial increase in usage with Covington off the court, but Teague’s fantasy production has actually skyrocketed in this scenario, and he is averaging 1.14 DraftKings and 1.17 FanDuel points per minute in an 82.2 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Timberwolves PR via Twitter Other tagged players: Derrick Rose CJ McCollum (ankle) will play without a minutes restriction Saturday
McCollum has officially been upgraded from probable and will play in Saturday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing one game due to a sprained left ankle. Head coach Terry Stotts already confirmed with reporters at his pregame media availability that McCollum won’t be subject to a minutes restriction in his return, so he should be expected to be a full-go this evening. His presence in the starting lineup will send Seth Curry back to the bench to resume a reserve role following a disappointing fantasy performance in just over 17 minutes of action in his spot start. Curry basically didn’t see an increase in playing time in Thursday’s win, and it was actually Nik Stauskas that logged 28 minutes off the bench, though he didn’t do much from a fantasy perspective either.
As reported by: Jamie Hudson via Twitter Kyle Anderson (back) and Joakim Noah (back) available to play Saturday
Anderson and Noah have officially been upgraded from probable and will be available to play in Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers despite each dealing with a sore back, while Mike Conley has also been cleared to play through a sprained finger. Noah has averaged 15 minutes off the bench in his first two games as a member of the Grizzlies, but he’ll be difficult to consistently rely on for fantasy with that type of workload even with a solid performance in Friday’s win. As for Anderson, he’s coming off of his best fantasy performance of the entire season in 33 minutes of action in that contest, and he’ll set up as a viable fade on tonight’s slate considering he has just a 12.2% usage rate and is averaging a modest 0.79 DraftKings and 0.83 FanDuel points per minute on the season.
As reported by: Grizzlies PR via Twitter Other tagged players: Joakim Noah Al Horford (knee) out Saturday
Horford has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls due to a sore left knee, while Aron Baynes is also out with a sprained left ankle that forced him to exit Thursday’s win after just two minutes of action. Prior to that, Baynes had played between 16-23 minutes in each of the Celtics previous five games, so there will certainly be a noteworthy amount of playing time available in the frontcourt rotation with both centers unavailable. In their absences, Daniel Theis will be thrust into the starting center role, and while he won’t step directly into Horford’s minutes, he still becomes one of the better value options on tonight’s nine-game slate at the minimum salary across the industry. Even though Theis has an uninspiring 17.9% usage rate, he is averaging a respectable 0.88 DraftKings and 0.87 FanDuel points per minute on the season.
As reported by: Mark Murphy via Twitter Mike Conley (finger) will play Saturday
Conley has officially been upgraded from probable and will play Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers despite dealing with a sprained right finger, while Kyle Anderson and Joakim Noah remain probable with sore backs, respectively. Noah has averaged 15 minutes off the bench in his first two games as a member of the Grizzlies, but he’ll be difficult to consistently rely on for fantasy with that type of workload even with a solid performance in Friday’s win. As for Anderson, he’s coming off of his best fantasy performance of the entire season in 33 minutes of action in that contest, and he’ll set up as a viable fade on tonight’s slate considering he has just a 12.2% usage rate and is averaging a modest 0.79 DraftKings and 0.83 FanDuel points per minute on the season.
As reported by: David Cobb via Twitter Jamal Murray (forearm) will start Saturday
Murray has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Saturday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks despite dealing with a right forearm contusion. However, the Nuggets will be without Paul Millsap and Gary Harris for an extended period of time, which leaves them with just two remaining starters from their opening night lineup in Murray and Nikola Jokic, as Will Barton has been sidelined with a groin injury since the third game of the season. Torrey Craig has already started the last two games in place of Harris, averaging 22 minutes, and Trey Lyles has finally been confirmed as the starting power forward in Millsap’s place, though Mason Plumlee may also see some additional run alongside Jokic off the bench. There is not a tremendous sample size with Millsap and Harris off the court together this season, but in that time, Jokic has recorded a 36.7% usage rate (+10.3%) and is averaging 1.83 fantasy points per minute, vaulting him into elite play status on tonight’s nine-game slate.
As reported by: the Denver Nuggets via Twitter Bobby Portis (knee) downgraded to out Saturday
Portis has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Boston Celtics due to a sprained right MCL that’s kept him sidelined for all but four games this season, while Blakeney remains listed as questionable with an illness. Blakeney is coming off of two consecutive DNP-CDs and has largely been out of the rotation of late, so his potential absence would mean very little to the remaining members of the active rotation, even if his status isn’t updated prior to tipoff. Additionally, the continued absence of Kris Dunn will enable Ryan Arcidiacano to continue starting at point guard, though he’s struggled in his last four games despite averaging 29 minutes per game over that span.
As reported by: K.C. Johnson via Twitter John Wall (illness) will play Saturday
Wall has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play Saturday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers despite dealing with an illness, while Jeff Green has been cleared to play after missing one game with a sore back. In Wall’s absence, Austin Rivers started at point guard and was more than serviceable from a fantasy perspective in 34 minutes of action, but he’ll head back to the bench to resume a reserve role this evening. The Wizards were forced to utilize a thin rotation in that contest, so Bradley Beal and Otto Porter both logged at least 42 minutes, but those numbers should be expected to regress closer to their mean with both Wall and Green available to play.
As reported by: Candace Buckner via Twitter Domantas Sabonis (illness) available to play Saturday
Sabonis has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Saturday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings after missing one game due to an illness, while Victor Oladipo remains without a timetable for his return from a sore right knee that’s already kept him sidelined for nine consecutive games. Kyle O’Quinn stole the show in Friday’s win and logged 27 minutes off the bench, which severely limited the playing time of Myles Turner, but with Sabonis now active, O’Quinn will likely be relegated from the rotation once again and has been a DNP-CD in four the last five contests. Sabonis continues to benefit from a usage spike with Oladipo on the shelf, as he owns a 25.5% usage rate (+2.3%) and is averaging 1.46 DraftKings and 1.44 FanDuel points per minute with Oladipo off the floor this season.
As reported by: the Indiana Pacers via Twitter Alec Burks confirmed as the starter in place of Rodney Hood (toe) on Saturday
Hood was officially ruled out and won’t play in Saturday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards due to a sprained right toe he sustained during Friday’s loss, while David Nwaba remains sidelined with a sore right knee. The Cavaliers were already shorthanded following the trade of George Hill to Milwaukee, as Hill doesn’t expect to complete his physical until Monday afternoon, which means Matthew Dellavedova is still ineligible to be on the Cavaliers active roster. Larry Nance is projected to take over Hill’s spot in the starting lineup, and with Hood now unavailable, Alec Burks will start alongside Collin Sexton in the backcourt and Jordan Clarkson will still see a significant role off the bench. However, regardless of starting lineup, all three are poised to be strong fantasy options on tonight’s nine-game slate.
As reported by: Fred McLeod via Twitter