DFS Alerts
Dennis Smith Jr. (ankle) will start Sunday
As expected, Smith Jr. has been cleared and will start in Sunday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz after missing one game due to a sprained right ankle. In his absence, Jalen Brunson ended up starting at point guard and logged 29 unproductive minutes in an underwhelming daily fantasy performance. Now that Smith Jr. is back in the fold, Brunson will head back to the bench to resume his normal reserve role where he’s typically allotted between 16-18 minutes on a nightly basis. There’s been no word if Harrison Barnes will have his minute workload increased after playing 28 minutes in his season debut on Friday night, but either way, his presence in the starting lineup will siphon usage away from Smith Jr. and the other Mavericks starters, while Dorian Finney-Smith should continue to have a reduced bench role moving forward.
As reported by: Dwain Price via Twitter
Shaun Livingston (foot) out Sunday
Livingston has officially been downgraded from questionable to out and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets due to a sore right foot. Meanwhile, Andre Iguodala remains listed as questionable with left calf tightness and there’s yet to be an update on his status for tonight’s contest. With Livingston unavailable, Quinn Cook should absorb a majority of the backup guard minutes, but to this point, head coach Steve Kerr has opted to just spread most of these extra available minutes amongst his starters and Iguodala, making it difficult to utilize Cook as anything other than a tournament flyer in hopes he receives more run on the first night of a back-to-back set or if the game gets completely out of hand before the fourth quarter.
As reported by: Mark Medina via Twitter Derrick Favors (knee) out Sunday
Favors has officially been ruled out and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks due to a sore left knee. This will be the first game Favors has missed this season, but Jae Crowder will more than likely slot into the starting lineup at power forward in his absence. There is certainly a non-zero chance that head coach Quin Snyder prefers to keep Crowder in his normal bench role by starting one of the other Jazz reserves, but Crowder is already playing more minutes than Favors on most nights, making it likely he sees an uptick in playing time no matter what his role ends up being this evening. Additionally, Thabo Sefolosha will be available to make his season debut following a five-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy last season, and he’ll likely step into a considerable role in Snyder’s rotation, especially while Favors is sidelined.
As reported by: Eric Walden via Twitter Small Ball
Montrezl Harrell put up a monster fantasy performance on Saturday night as he scored 30 points and added on six boards in just 28 minutes of court time. Harrell is never likely to surpass 30 minutes with the Clippers crowded front court rotation but this game sets up well for him with the Wizards ability to play small ball. Harrell is kind of in that mid-tier price range across the industry but gives you a nice ceiling for the price tag.
Cash Value
Josh Jackson was a minor disappointment on Saturday night but will get another crack at it on Sunday with Devin Booker recently declared out for the Suns matchup against Oklahoma City. Despite a subpar fantasy performance against the Grizz, the usage was there for Jackson who finished the game 3/10 from the field, 2/6 from the free throw line and with 7 turnovers. Don’t be afraid to go back to the well as Jackson should get plenty of run again on Sunday and can only improve on Saturday’s performance.
Surprisingly High Usage
WAS @ LAC has the highest total on the slate and the smallest spread. That’s a simplistic way of saying you want to grab as much exposure to this game as possible on a short slate. Beal actually leads the Wiz in usage to start the season with a 30.3% usage rate and headlines a relatively weak SG position (unless RWB is out and we get Dennis Schroeder).
Devin Booker (hamstring) out Sunday
Booker has officially been ruled out for Sunday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder and will miss his second consecutive game due to a strained left hamstring. In his absence, Josh Jackson will likely draw the start at shooting guard once again but logged just 23 minutes and was severely disappointing from a daily fantasy perspective. The Suns have a plethora of bodies available on the wing and Jackson fell victim to that depth, giving way to Mikal Bridges and Jamal Crawford for extended stretches since he was having a brutal night on the offensive end of the floor. However, Jackson will still be a candidate for a bounce-back performance in tonight’s contest, and he still leads the Suns with a 31.2% usage rate with Booker off the court this season, while Deandre Ayton averages 1.51 DraftKings and 1.53 FanDuel points per minute in the aforementioned scenario as well.
As reported by: Gina Mizell via Twitter Tiny Slate Value reach if you need it
There is so little value on this slate.. Of course pay attention before tip because as we know with the NBA, there are a lot of things that can happen between now and tip off that can create value. As it stands I am locking in Jerami Grant and will play a good deal of Exum where I need the savings. Exum is not the most fun play but can definitely 5 to 7 x this price in this matchup if things break his way.
Other tagged players: Jerami Grant
Much Needed Salary Relief
Instead of going back to the well with last night’s disaster in Josh Jackson, I will pivot over to Jerami Grant as tonight’s top value. He has clearly been the power forward of choice for this Oklahoma City squad, and he drew the start over Patrick Patterson in the last game. In that game, he played 31 minutes and put up a season high with a fantasy point total in the mid-20’s. The one mild concern I have is that the Thunder might change things up given their poor start to the season, but Grant didn’t do anything in the last game to warrant fewer minutes. It’s important, though, as Grant needs the minutes to be able to put up fantasy points; he is not a high usage player. However, I don’t envision the coaching staff removing him from the lineup after just one game. Assuming the minutes are still there, Grant is a safe value pick in all formats this evening.
A Youngster On The Rise
The Suns may be a disaster, but Deandre Ayton has been nothing short of impressive over the last two games. In those games, he has shot 23-27 from the field while averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds in those contests. It’s hard to believe that he has only played five regular season NBA games at this point. His price is only going to go higher, so we need to play him while we can still get him at a reasonable price. It’s safe to say that he should be a focal point of the offense again tonight with Devin Booker likely out, and there’s plenty of appeal here.
Safe and Steady - Even Better Than The Titanic
Harris’ lowest fantasy point total on DraftKings so far this year is 29 fantasy points. His lowest fantasy point total on FanDuel so far this year is 27 fantasy points. That’s a solid floor for a mid-range player. Even if he only gets to around 30 fantasy points, it doesn’t completely tank your lineup. I also expect to see him have a higher floor in a decent matchup against a Wizards team that currently ranks second only to the Hawks in pace this season. They also rank in the bottom half of the league in overall defensive efficiency. If you are rolling with a balanced lineup approach, Harris is a fine option on this slate. He also fills a forward spot, and the forward spots are much weaker than the guard and center spots on this slate. Start things off with Harris, and you almost certainly won’t hurt your lineup at the end of the night.
I Know You Want to Leave Me, But I Refuse to Let You Go
Russell Westbrook has returned, and with it PG13’s ownership has disappeared. However, i’m even more interested now that Westbrook has returned. George still owns an incredible 30% usage rate and still averaging around 35 minutes. Its a very small sample size, but I think this is what we will see as last year he was in the 28% range (with Carmelo Anthony holding the ball). He’s still over a fantasy point per minute (1.18) and he will have upside games along the way. The price is very fair across the industry and PG should not be ignored with these numbers where they are.
The Starter on the Bench
When analyzing the LA Clippers there is one glaring thing that stands out. Marcin Gortat starts, but it’s more of an “honorary” tag at this point. The “real” starter is Montrezl Harrell who has been giving us fantasy goodness all year. Harrell sports a 25.6% usage rate, and is averaging 1.4 fpts per minute. Efficiency at its best is what I would describe what’s happening here and I only expect it to get better as now his minutes have been on the rise as well. He started the year with 2 games in the teens, but since then, we have seen 24, 23, and 28 minutes in his most recent explosion. If these minutes continue to sit in the mid to high 20s we are looking at a fantasy gem until his price increases. All aboard the Harrell Train, next stop is the Washington Wizards…..
It Only Looks Like a Chase If...
So, of course Ricky Rubio re-introduced himself to the dfs community last night by hammering the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans with 57.5 fpts. And I was happy for the people that played him, but very disappointed that it was such an explosion as I wanted to beat people to the party with this write up for this slate. The bottom line is this, Ricky is averaging roughly 30 minutes a game, .98 fpts per game (with an abysmal shooting percentage to begin the year might I add) and still owns a usage rate of 21.7%. With his shooting percentage on the rise as the season progresses i’m expecting Rubio to get back to his old ways with scoring in the teens and assists in the 8-12 range on a per game basis. With those numbers combined with his minutes floor we should see Ricky begin to consistently give us 30-40 fpts and now would be the time to hop on before the salary correction.
Joel Embiid (ankle) will play Saturday
Despite a questionable designation all day due to an ankle injury, Joel Embiid will play Saturday against the Hornets. Look for Embiid to see his usual workload in what projects to be a high-scoring matchup with Charlotte where the 76ers have the second-highest team total on the evening.
