DFS Alerts
Elfrid Payton (ankle) officially out Wednesday
As expected, Payton has been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls due to a sprained right ankle. Head coach Alvin Gentry has been adamant that the team won’t rush Payton back from this injury, and he has a chance of playing in Saturday’s contest after partially participating in drills during Tuesday’s practice. His absence will allow Wesley Johnson to draw a third consecutive start at small forward and enables Jrue Holiday to continue manning the point guard spot. Holiday also leads the Pelicans starters with a 28.1% usage rate and is averaging 1.19 DraftKings and 1.17 FanDuel points per minute with Payton off the court this season.
As reported by: Andrew Lopez via Twitter
George Hill (shoulder) ruled out Wednesday
Hill is a surprise late scratch and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder after experiencing some shoulder soreness during pregame warmups, In his absence, Collin Sexton will draw the start at point guard and had typically been playing between 25-27 minutes prior to J.R. Smith entering the rotation. Smith will start at small forward in place of the injured Sam Dekker, which will slide Cedi Osman down to the power forward spot. Smith has averaged 24.5 minutes off the bench the last two games, so he’ll make for an interesting tournament target if he’s able to approach the 30-minute mark this evening. The Cavaliers are already without Kevin Love, so Larry Nance theoretically should step into an expanded role in the frontcourt rotation sans Dekker, but he hasn’t played more than 27 minutes in a game this season, leaving that in some doubt.
As reported by: Tom Withers via Twitter Derrick White (heel) will start at ahead of either Dante Cunningham or Davis Bertans on Wednesday
White has officially been upgraded from probable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Miami Heat after missing all nine games this season with a torn left plantar fascia. White was supposed to come off the bench initially, so the news of him starting at point guard is rather surprising. This change will slide Bryn Forbes to the shooting guard spot and DeMar DeRozan to small forward, respectively. San Antonio is also without Pau Gasol due to a sore right foot, which leaves Jakob Poeltl as the main backup behind LaMarcus Aldridge at center. Unsurprisingly, the primary beneficiary with Gay and Gasol off the court has been DeRozan, who leads the Spurs by a massive margin with a 42.7% usage rate and is averaging 1.47 DraftKings and 1.46 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.
As reported by: Jeff McDonald via Twitter Other tagged players: Dante Cunningham, Davis Bertans Taurean Prince (ankle) will come off bench Wednesday; DeAndre Bembry starts
Huerter was officially ruled out in advance of Wednesday’s matchup against the New York Knicks due to personal reasons, while Taurean Prince is set to return from a one-game absence because of a sprained right ankle but will come off the bench in his first game back. Prince won’t be subject to a minute restriction, and head coach Lloyd Pierce told reporters that this was just a one-time lineup change with Huerter unavailable. Huerter has just a 13.4% usage rate on the year, so his absence doesn’t affect the Hawks second unit much from a production standpoint, but Prince remains in play as tournament target, even off the bench, and is averaging 1.05 DraftKings and 1.01 FanDuel points per minute this season.
As reported by: Brad Rowland via Twitter Other tagged players: DeAndre Bembry Hassan Whiteside (knee) will play Wednesday
Whiteside has officially been cleared and will play in Wednesday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs after missing one game with a right knee injury, while Dwyane Wade is away from the team dealing with a personal matter and was already been ruled out. The return of Whiteside should force Bam Adebayo into a less significant bench role following back-to-back games of logging at least 29 minutes. With Goran Dragic expected to be a game-time decision, the Heat could be without two key members of their backcourt, which would greatly benefit Tyler Johnson and Justise Winslow, who was outstanding in his spot start for Dragic over the weekend. However, Johnson is now the cheaper of the two on daily fantasy sites and has a 23.6% usage rate while averaging 0.92 DraftKings and 0.94 FanDuel points per minute with Wade off the court this season. If Dragic is eventually ruled out, that usage and production only increases along with his projected minutes total.
As reported by: Ira Winderman via Twitter Luka Doncic (ankle) listed probable Wednesday
Doncic has been listed as probable on the most recent version of the Mavericks injury report for Wednesday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz with a sprained right ankle, while Devin Harris remains sidelined despite returning to practice Monday morning. Doncic managed to play a team-high 33 minutes in Tuesday’s win, so this injury designation is likely just precautionary unless the coaching staff decides to rest him in tonight’s second leg of a back-to-back set. Doncic has had a fantastic start to his rookie season and trails only Dennis Smith Jr. with a 25.9% usage rate while averaging 1.07 DraftKings and 1.02 FanDuel points per minute on the year.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Reggie Bullock (ankle) will start Wednesday
Bullock has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic after missing two consecutive games with a sprained left ankle. His return will send Bruce Brown back to the bench resume his normal reserve role, while Langston Galloway should see his role in the backcourt diminish following a stellar fantasy performance in 35 minutes of action his last time out. Glenn Robinson III also started ahead of Stanley Johnson in the Pistons previous game, logging and effective 30 minutes, making it likely he continues to start at small forward for the foreseeable future.
As reported by: Rod Beard via Twitter J.R. Smith will start for Sam Dekker (ankle) on Wednesday
Dekker was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle and will miss approximately two-to-four weeks. In his absence, J.R. Smith will start at small forward in Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will slide Cedi Osman down to the power forward spot. Smith has averaged 24.5 minutes off the bench the last two games, so he’ll make for an interesting tournament target if he’s able to approach the 30-minute mark this evening. The Cavaliers are already without Kevin Love, so Larry Nance theoretically should step into an expanded role in the frontcourt rotation sans Dekker, but he hasn’t played more than 27 minutes in a game this season, leaving that in some doubt.
As reported by: Fred McLeod via Twitter Other tagged players: Sam Dekker Evan Fournier (ankle) will start Wednesday
Fournier has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons despite dealing with a sprained right ankle. Orlando is still without Jonathan Isaac, who will miss his third consecutive game due to a sprained right ankle, which will enable Wesley Iwundu to continue starting at small forward, but he remains irrelevant for daily fantasy formats after averaging just 12.5 minutes over the last two games. Terrance Ross should also continue to see an increased minute workload as the primary small forward off the bench and has averaged 30.5 minutes with Isaac sidelined. On top of that, he has a 25.5% usage rate and is averaging 0.92 DraftKings and 0.93 FanDuel points per minute with Isaac off the court this season.
As reported by: Orlando Magic PR via Twitter Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee) will play Wednesday
Bogdanovic has officially been cleared by the Kings’ medical staff and will play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors after missing the first 10 games of the season recovering from offseason left knee surgery. Bogdanovic practiced on Tuesday, but he should be brought along slowly by head coach Dave Joerger and the coaching staff, so it’s unlikely he’ll step directly into a starting role out of the gate. However, his presence in the rotation will siphon minutes away from Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams, who is on a two-way contract and will appears on track to be inactive, barring a roster transaction, until further notice.
As reported by: James Ham via Twitter We Know His Role On This Team
With a lot of injury news coming out, Taj Gibson is quickly becoming one of my favorite value options. We don’t have a lot of great value options at this point, and Gibson has been a solid option throughout the season. He has at least 19 fantasy points in every game this season and has over 25 fantasy points in six of ten games. His price has come up a little, but so has the minutes and production. His upside is all about the defensive stats he gets, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he grabs his first double-double of the season.
This Big Man Looks to Take Advantage of Weak Interior Defense Tonight
Russell Westbrook is expected to miss tonight’s game, and while all of the attention will be drawn to Paul George and Dennis Schroder, Steven Adams should be a consideration on the Thunder as well. Oklahoma City is facing a Cleveland team that ranks 24th in points per game allowed, and 25th in points in the paint allowed, meaning Adams could pick up a greater than expected share of the usage available with Westbook’s absence. Adams has had no price increase due to Westbrook’s injury, which makes him an even more appealing target tonight facing the Cavs.
NBA Start Returns to the Comfort of Home Court Tonight
Anthony Davis has had a disappointing couple of weeks, missing several games with an elbow injury and only averaging 18 points and 9.3 rebounds in the three games he has played since October 26th. While some of his performance could be the lingering effects of the injury, it’s also worth noting that the Pelicans have been on a long road trip. The team returns for tonight’s game as a 10 point favorite against a Bulls team that ranks 22nd in points per game allowed. Davis has excelled at home during his career, and averaged an additional 2.3 points, 1.1 assists, and 0.7 blocks on his home court last season compared to his road averages. Davis makes for an excellent GPP play tonight, with ownership hopefully down a bit after Davis’ poor recent performance.
Kevin Huerter (personal) out Wednesday; Taurean Prince (ankle) not on injury report
Huerter has officially been ruled out for Wednesday’s matchup against the New York Knicks due to personal reasons, while Taurean Prince is set to return from a one-game absence because of a sprained right ankle after not being included on the most recent update to the Hawks’ injury report. There’s been no word of a minutes restriction for Prince, so he’ll more than likely start at small forward and allows DeAndre Bembry to serve as the primary backup wing behind him and Kent Bazemore this evening. Huerter has just a 13.4% usage rate on the year, so his absence doesn’t affect the Hawks second unit much from a production standpoint, but Prince should remain in play as tournament target if he’s not limited and is averaging 1.05 DraftKings and 1.01 FanDuel points per minute this season.
As reported by: Brad Rowland via Twitter Other tagged players: Taurean Prince Entire Offense in Play Taking On Weak Defense Tonight
Derrick Rose is rightfully drawing a lot of attention tonight with Jeff Teague being declared out and Rose having scored 71 points with 10 assists in the two games he has started in place of Teague. For GPPs, it may be a good idea to take a look at the other pieces of the Minnesota offense as well, either individually or as part of a correlation play with Rose. Minnesota is taking on a Lakers team that ranks 28th in points per game allowed and 29th in rebounding differential, and the games has the highest Vegas point total of the night at 239. Karl-Anthony Towns could take advantage of the Lakers’ rebounding woes inside, and Andrew Wiggins is an attractive scoring option on the wing.
Other tagged players: Andrew Wiggins