DFS Alerts
Kevin Love (foot) out Thursday
Love was seen walking with a slight limp following Wednesday’s loss and has officially been ruled out for Thursday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to a sore left foot. There’s been no confirmation of who will replace him the starting lineup, but Larry Nance is the likeliest candidate given the matchup against the Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond frontcourt. However, no matter the starter at power forward, the remaining members of the starting lineup will be in line for a significant usage increase. In fact, Nance trails only Jordan Clarkson for the team lead with a 27.0% usage rate and is averaging 1.28 DraftKings and 1.29 FanDuel points per minute with Love off the court this season. Head coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t typically stagger the minutes of his starters, so there is almost no sample size without Love on the floor for the starting unit, but someone like Cedi Osman should be expected to thrive despite his poor showing in this on/off scenario thus far on the season.
As reported by: the Cleveland Cavaliers via Twitter
A Rising Young Star
After seeing lower minutes in the first few games of the season, it appears like the Magic might be ready to unleash Jonathan Isaac. He has played 28 and 26 minutes over the last two games, and he is coming off an impressive 18/12 game his last time out. Fire him up as a great value on this short slate.
Arrow Pointing Straight Up
The momentum isn’t slowing down for Josh Hart, and he drew the start for the Lakers over KCP on Wednesday. That’s a great sign as we move forward, and he should certainly see plenty of minutes again tonight with both Rondo and Ingram still suspended. Hart is a great scorer and a nice complement to LeBron James in this offense, and the LAL/DEN game has the highest total of the night at almost 240 points. The rise in price might keep his ownership down to some degree, and that makes Hart even more intriguing in GPP formats.
A Great Spot To Get On Track
He’s been a bit of a disappointment in the early going, largely because his shot hasn’t been falling, but this is a fine spot for him to get back on track at lower ownership. It’s hard to find true low owned play on a short slate like this, but McCollum will be lower owned than he would have been had this game been the season opener. He scored 20+ actual points in both games against the Magic last year, which doesn’t hurt, either. He took 25 shots in the last game, and the usage is going to be there.
All Aboard the Upside Train!
The Denver big man has been flat out dominant in the early going, and he should be fresh after only being needed for 23 minutes in the last game. He has put up at least 40 fantasy points (DK scoring) and 37 points (FD scoring) in every game this year, and there’s no reason to expect a slow down against the Lakers and JaVale McGee. Fire him up with confidence.
Josh Hart will start ahead of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on Wednesday
Head coach Luke Walton finally announced the inevitable and will start Josh Hart at the shooting guard spot in Wednesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns, sending Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the bench to assume a reserve role. This news does very little to affect the projections of either guard since Caldwell-Pope has failed to eclipse the 20-minute plateau in either of the Lakers last two games. On the contrary, Hart logged 38 minutes last time out, and he can be expected to have a similar minute workload in tonight’s contest since Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram will be serving the second game of their respective suspensions.
As reported by: Dave McMenamin via Twitter Iman Shumpert (hip) out Wednesday; Justin Jackson will start
Shumpert has officially been downgraded from questionable to out and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies due to sore left hip. Since taking over for Yogi Ferrell in the starting lineup, Shumpert has exceeded salary-based expectations in two straight games, but his playing time has been less than consistent, logging 19 and 30 minutes in those contests, respectively. Head coach Dave Joerger has not been shy to ride the hot hand in his rotation, which limits everyone on the roster to tournament formats only on a nightly basis. Mavin Bagley III was the latest example of this on Tuesday night and exploded for 44.25 DraftKings and 46.30 FanDuel points in 32 minutes of action. With Shumpert unavailable, Justin Jackson will start alongside Buddy Hield on the wing, but it appears unlikely he’ll see more minutes than the 26-28 minute range he’s regularly been allotted in the early stages of the season.
As reported by: James Ham via Twitter Other tagged players: Justin Jackson Ian Mahinmi (back) out Wednesday; Jason Smith will start
Mahinmi has officially been downgraded from questionable to out and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors due to back spasms. With Dwight Howard still sidelined with a piriformis ailment, it’ll be Jason Smith that draws the start at center in their place. However, expect Smith to be a starter in name only since the likelihood this game goes small for extended stretches is extremely high. Head coach Scott Brooks has continued to emphasize his desire to utilize more lineups with Markieff Morris at center, and there aren’t many better matchups in the NBA than Golden State to test out these small-ball combinations. Should the game flow play out this way, Kelly Oubre and Jeff Green are likely to see an uptick in minutes, while Otto Porter will spend considerably more time at power forward, increasing his rebounding opportunities and ultimately raising his projected fantasy output.
As reported by: Tim Bontemps via Twitter Other tagged players: Jason Smith Ben Simmons (back) will play Wednesday
Simmons has been cleared and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks after missing Tuesday’s overtime loss with lower back tightness. Meanwhile, Mike Muscala remains listed as probable after making his season debut last night and logged 16 minutes off the bench but is still expected to play. There have been no reports of any Sixers resting on the second leg of a back-to-back set, so it seems safe to operate under the assumption that everyone will be available in what head coach Brett Brown likely deems as an important game in team’s young season. With Simmons available, Landry Shamet will head back to the bench to resume his normal end of the rotation role after seeing 24 minutes in his spot start alongside Markelle Fultz in the backcourt on Tuesday evening. This means that Fultz will shift back over the two-guard spot in the starting unit, but his minute floor remains volatile and has already had two games this year where he’s barely seen the court in the second half.
As reported by: Keith Pompey via Twitter Garrett Temple (groin) and Dillon Brooks (foot) available to play Wednesday
Brooks had been ruled out earlier Wednesday afternoon due to right foot soreness, but he’s now available to play in tonight’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings, while Garrett Temple has also been cleared to play despite dealing with a sore left groin. Head coach JB Bickerstaff didn’t commit to either having a strict minute restriction, but he did disclose that he’ll likely keep them limited to shorter stints of playing time. Jaren Jackson Jr. logged 27 minutes in his first start with JaMychal Green sidelined, but both he and Kyle Anderson should be relied upon more heavily with Chandler Parsons also already confirmed out, while Wayne Selden, MarShon Brooks, and Omri Casspi will join Brooks as the primary reinforcements to provide depth at the forward and wing positions this evening.
As reported by: Michael Wallace via Twitter Other tagged players: Dillon Brooks Kelly Olynyk will start in place of Derrick Jones Jr. (foot) on Wednesday
Jones Jr. was officially been downgraded from doubtful to out and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup with the New York Knicks due to a bruised left foot, while Wayne Ellington will be active, despite originally being ruled out, but is not expected to play. The Heat will still also be without Dion Waiters and James Johnson which allows Olynyk to replace Jones Jr. in the starting lineup at power forward alongside Hassan Whiteside in the frontcourt. Jones Jr. has averaged roughly 24 minutes through the Heat’s first three games, but a majority, if not, all of that playing time will be absorbed by Olynyk and Winslow, assuming Winslow isn’t subject to a strict minute restriction. It seems unlikely that Winslow would command a significantly higher usage than the 23.3% rate Jones Jr. has recorded thus far, so the remaining Heat starters can be targeted in daily fantasy formats the same as they have been for at least one more slate.
As reported by: the Miami Heat via Twitter Fred VanVleet (toe) out Wednesday
VanVleet was an extremely late addition to the Raptors injury report and has been downgraded to out for Wednesday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to turf toe, while Delon Wright will be available to play but will have a minute restriction in his return. Head coach Nick Nurse plans to bring Wright along slowly, so with VanVleet unavailable, Lorenzo Brown will likely take on a majority of the available backup guard minutes. Nurse also confirmed with reporters at shootaround this earlier this morning that he intends to continue utilizing a deep rotation, which means that Norman Powell will still be allotted playing time and could be the beneficiary of a few extra minutes with VanVleet unable to suit up this evening.
As reported by: Blake Murphy via Twitter Marquese Chriss (ankle) and Nene (calf) remain out Wednesday
Chriss and Nene will each miss their fourth consecutive game and won’t be available to play in Wednesday’s matchup with the Utah Jazz due to an ankle and calf injury, respectively. With Chris Paul serving the final game of his two-game suspension and James Ennis sidelined with a hamstring ailment, Michael Carter-Williams will draw the start alongside Eric Gordon and James Harden in a non-traditional three-guard starting lineup. Carter-Williams will mostly be relied upon for his defensive prowess in the starting unit, while Harden and Gordon, who exceeded salary-based expectations in 32 minutes of action in his previous start, will be needed to run the offense and assume additional playmaking responsibility in Paul’s absence.
As reported by: Ben DuBose via Twitter Other tagged players: Nene Hilario Jabari Parker (illness) expected to play Wednesday
Parker missed shootaround Wednesday morning but will still play in tonight’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets after previous being questionable with an upper respiratory infection. As the sixth-man, Parker has averaged 24 minutes through the Bulls first three games, so if he’s limited by his illness in any way, Bobby Portis and Wendell Carter could be in line for some extra playing time at the power forward spot, while Robin Lopez would consequentially have to fill in more often as the backup center. The Bulls are already without Kris Dunn for the next four-to-six weeks due to a sprained left MCL, so Cameron Payne will have another crack at securing the starting point guard role in his absence. However, the team signed Shaquille Harrison to take Dunn’s place on the active roster in the interim, and head coach Fred Hoiberg already confirmed with reporters that Harrison “could get an opportunity tonight”, though it remains to be seen what exactly his role will be from the outset.
As reported by: Darnell Mayberry via Twitter Andrew Wiggins (thigh) out Wednesday; Josh Okogie will start
Wiggins has officially been downgraded from questionable to out for Wednesday’s matchup with the Toronto Raptors due to a right thigh contusion. In his absence, Josh Okogie will draw his second career start at shooting guard and logged 28 minutes in place of a resting Jimmy Butler as recently as last week. The Raptors are far from a juicy matchup for wings since the addition of Kawhi Leonard, but Butler still leads the Timberwolves by a significant margin with a 30.5% usage rate and is averaging 1.20 DraftKings and 1.26 FanDuel points without Wiggins on the court this season. Additionally, Okogie, Tyus Jones and Gorgui Dieng all own at least a +3.7% usage rate differential in the aforementioned scenario, though Okogie has the highest minute floor of the three by far.
As reported by: Timberwolves PR via Twitter Other tagged players: Josh Okogie