DFS Alerts
Nene (rest) ruled out Wednesday; Brandan Wright not expected to play
Nene is a new addition to the Houston Rockets’ injury report and has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings due to rest purposes on the second leg of a back-to-back set. Meanwhile, newly-signed Brandan Wright may be active for the first time as a member of the Rockets, according to head coach Mike D’Antoni, but he remains unlikely to play, which means that Tarik Black will be relied upon to handle the backup center duties with Nene sidelined. Eric Gordon remains questionable with a right knee contusion, and Gerald Green played 26 minutes in the most recent game Gordon was sidelined with a back injury. However, Joe Johnson is available to make his Rockets debut and will likely cut into some of Green’s playing time on the wing regardless of Gordon’s status for tonight’s contest.
As reported by: Jonathan Feigen via Twitter Other tagged players: Brandan Wright
Markieff Morris (illness) will play Wednesday
Morris has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks after previously being expected to play following his original questionable designation on the Washington Wizards’ game notes with an illness. The Wizards are still without John Wall and will be down another point guard in Tim Frazier, who underwent a nasal procedure over the weekend, but Tomas Satoransky was cleared to play in tonight’s contest as he passed both phases of the NBA’s concussion protocol, alleviating any concerns of a possible head injury. The return of Morris to the starting lineup will send Kelly Oubre to the bench to resume his normal reserve role after logging 39 minutes in Saturday’s win as the starting small forward and will also slide Otto Porter back to his customary small forward spot in the starting unit. Head coach Scott Brooks ran a tight-seven man rotation in that contest following the exit’s of Frazier and Ian Mahinmi, so with Mahinmi and Morris available to play, everyone’s elevated minute totals should return back to normal levels this evening.
As reported by: Candace Buckner via Twitter John Collins will start for Ersan Ilyasova (shoulder) on Wednesday
Schroder and Ilyasova were new additions to the Atlanta Hawks’ injury report Wednesday morning and have officially been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Detroit Pistons due to a tight lower back and sprained right shoulder, respectively. Meanwhile, Kent Bazemore has also been ruled out for rest purposes, and Tyler Cavanaugh remains sidelined with an ankle issue. This means that Hawks will be without three of their normal starters, which had given head coach Mike Budenholzer a plethora of different lineup combinations he could utilize as his starting unit for tonight’s contest. That said, he has opted to start Malcolm Delaney, Tyler Dorsey, Taurean Prince, John Collins, and Dewayne Dedmon, which makes Collins the only slightly surprising inclusion, as Budenholzer has typically preferred to bring him off the bench in these situations. There isn’t a tremendous sample size with the aforementioned players off the court this season, but Prince, Delaney, and Mike Muscala all own at least a +3.3% usage rate differential in this scenario, though Delaney has capitalized the most with his increased usage to this point and has averaged 0.88 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 0.86 on FanDuel.
As reported by: Annie Finberg via Twitter Devin Booker (hip pointer) will attempt to play Wednesday
Booker will attempt to play and is on track to suit up for Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz after previously being listed as questionable on the Phoenix Suns’ injury report with a left hip pointer the had forced him to miss four consecutive games, while Troy Daniels confirmed with reporters that he will also be available to play following his original questionable designation due to a sprained right finger. On the other hand, Tyson Chandler was already ruled out with a sore neck that has ailed him in recent weeks, which will allow Dragan Bender to start at center and possibly enable Marquese Chriss to start at the power forward spot, though interim head coach Jay Triano could opt to go small with T.J. Warren and Josh Jackson manning the forward positions. As late as Monday, Booker reportedly still couldn’t make NBA-level cuts at practice, but Triano did sound optimistic that Booker could play for the first time in a while during his post-shootaround interview with media members, hinting at some possible improvement in Booker’s mobility. That said, with the All-Star break on the horizon and the nature of his injury, it’d be far from surprising if Booker is subject to a minute restriction in tonight’s contest.
As reported by: John Gambadoro via Twitter Draymond Green (finger) and Kevon Looney (knee) available to play Wednesday; Patrick McCaw (wrists) ruled out
Green has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for Wednesday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers after previously being listed as questionable on the Golden State Warriors’ injury report with a sprained left index finger that had forced him to miss one game, while Kevon Looney will be available off the bench following his earlier questionable designation. Additionally, Patrick McCaw is not with the team in Portland and is having both of his sprained wrists evaluated back in the Bay Area, effectively ruling him out for tonight’s contest, as expected. Looney logged just 13 minutes off the bench in Green’s absence and gave way to Omri Casspi for the most part in terms of playing time, as Casspi saw 26 minutes and easily exceeded salary-based expectations in his spot start at power forward. However, with all of the Warriors normal starters available to play, he’ll go back to playing nominal minutes with the second unit, if he plays at all.
As reported by: Mark Medina via Twitter Other tagged players: Patrick McCaw Tomas Satoransky (head) available to play Wednesday; Markieff Morris (illness) expected to play
Satoransky has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks after his status was previously considered uncertain, but he passed both phases of the NBA’s concussion protocol and figures to be in line for a hefty dose of minutes with Tim Frazier unavailable due to nasal surgery he underwent over the weekend. Meanwhile, Markieff Morris is expected to make his return from a one-game absence following his earlier questionable designation with an illness. The likely return of Morris to the starting lineup will send Kelly Oubre back to the bench to resume his normal reserve role after logging 39 minutes in Saturday’s win as the starting small forward. Head coach Scott Brooks ran a tight-seven man rotation in that contest following the exit’s of Frazier and Ian Mahinmi, so with Mahinmi and Morris expected to play, everyone’s elevated minute totals should return back to normal levels this evening.
As reported by: Chris Miller via Twitter Other tagged players: Markieff Morris Tyson Chandler (sore neck) ruled out Wednesday; Troy Daniels (finger) will play
Chandler has officially been ruled out and won’t play in Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz after previously being listed as questionable on the Phoenix Suns’ injury report with a sore neck. Additionally, Troy Daniels confirmed with reporters that he will play following his earlier questionable designation due to a sprained right finger, while Devin Booker remains questionable with a left hip pointer, and Tyler Ulis is still listed as probable due to a low back issue. As of Monday, Booker reportedly still couldn’t make NBA-level cuts at practice, but interim coach Jay Triano sounded optimistic that Booker could play for the first time during his post-shootaround interview with media members. However, should he be ruled out, the presence of Elfrid Payton will continue to throw a bit of a wrench into the Suns’ recent usage dispersion with Booker sidelined, but Josh Jackson has still led the way with a +3.4% usage rate differential with Booker off the court this season and is averaging 1.01 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and FanDuel in this scenario as well.
As reported by: Scott Bordow via Twitter Dennis Schroder (back), Kent Bazemore (rest), and Ersan Ilyasova (shoulder) ruled out Wednesday
Schroder and Ilyasova were new additions to the Atlanta Hawks’ injury report Wednesday morning and have officially been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Detroit Pistons due to a tight lower back and sprained right shoulder, respectively. Meanwhile, Kent Bazemore has also been ruled out for rest purposes, and Tyler Cavanaugh remains sidelined with an ankle issue. This means that Hawks will be without three of their normal starters, which had given head coach Mike Budenholzer a plethora of different lineup combinations he could utilize as his starting unit for tonight’s contest. That said, he has opted to start Malcolm Delaney, Tyler Dorsey, Taurean Prince, John Collins, and Dewayne Dedmon, which makes Collins the only slightly surprising inclusion, as Budenholzer has typically preferred to bring him off the bench in these situations. There isn’t a tremendous sample size with the aforementioned players off the court this season, but Prince, Delaney, and Mike Muscala all own at least a +3.3% usage rate differential in this scenario, though Delaney has capitalized the most with his increased usage to this point and has averaged 0.88 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 0.86 on FanDuel.
As reported by: the Atlanta Hawks via Twitter Other tagged players: Kent Bazemore, Ersan Ilyasova Kris Dunn (concussion) will play Wednesday
Dunn participated in practice on Tuesday and has officially been cleared to play in Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors after previously being listed as probable in the Chicago Bulls’ game notes with a concussion that had forced him to miss 11 consecutive games. Head coach Fred Hoiberg did confirm that Dunn would return to the starting lineup for tonight’s contest, but he will be limited to around 20 minutes and won’t play at all in the fourth quarter. In his extended absence, Jerian Grant started at point guard and averaged just under 35 minutes per game, but he’ll obviously still see his role diminished significantly with Dunn back in the starting lineup and slated to play limited minutes. Even in a bench role, this may be the last time Grant will be a viable option for daily fantasy formats, barring an injury, as head coach Fred Hoiberg has already confirmed that Cameron Payne will enter the rotation after the All-Star break, just further limiting Grant, Dunn, and the remaining backcourt members’ mintute floors on a nightly basis.
As reported by: Nick Friedell via Twitter Ricky Rubio (sore hip) ruled out Wednesday
Rubio has officially been ruled out and won’t play in Wednesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns after previously being listed as questionable on the Utah Jazz’ injury report with a sore left hip that has now forced him to miss three consecutive games. Royce O’Neale has started alongside Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt each of the last two contests and has averaged 36 minutes per start, even though he’s had some mixed results from a daily fantasy perspective. The emergence of O’Neale and the addition of Jae Crowder to the rotation limited Alec Burks to just seven minutes in both games and it’s unlikely that changes on Wednesday night considering the performance of the team recently This also means that Mitchell will continue to absorb a majority of the point guard minutes, and he’ll be an excellent option for all formats on Wednesday’s slate, as he owns a +6.3% usage rate differential with Rubio and the recently-departed Jazz players off the court this season. On top of that, Mitchell also leads the team with a 36.4% usage rate overall and has averaged 1.31 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.27 on FanDuel in this scenario as well.
As reported by: Eric Woodyard via Twitter Big Time GPP Potential off the Bench
The Lakers and Pelicans both rank among the top three teams in the NBA in tempo. Vegas has installed this game with a 227 O/U, and there should be plenty of fantasy goodness if the game stays close. Kyle Kuzma will have a more secure role with Larry Nance off to Cleveland, and we know he can fill it up off the bench. If you are rolling some Pelicans today, don’t hesitate to use a guy like Kuzma on the other side as part of a GPP stack.
By The Numbers: News Dependent Salary Relief
With the All-Star break forthcoming and the Jazz maintaining momentum in spite of injuries, we can plan for Ricky Rubio to be held out once again tonight. If that is the case, we will once again see Royce O’Neale playing big time minutes (33 & 38 in the last two). The concern is efficiency, but minutes like that help compensate for sub par per minute production. The strength of opponents in those two matchups were sub-optimal, playing the Trailblazers and Spurs. His matchup tonight features the much more attractive Suns defense, who roll out poor defenders like Josh Jackson (-2.34 DRPM), T.J. Warren (-1.77 DRPM), and Elfrid Payton (-1.58 DRPM). Ownership will be high in tournaments, but that shouldn’t fully deter you from using O’Neale on a 12 game slate. He’s very likely to hit value should Rubio miss this game.
By the Numbers: An Opportunity for Efficiency
If we follow the numbers, we can get around any existing bias we have left for Isaiah Thomas. We saw him maintain minutes with the Lakers, playing 30 minutes of action. That should provide him the opportunity to get shots off as a primary bench scorer (12 in his last game). Vegas has tattooed a massive total over 230 as of this writing, and the game environment should be extremely favorable. His projected matchup will include coverage from Rajon Rondo with the second unit, who sports a -1.43 DRPM and has been a key cog in the Pelicans 4th worst defense vs. Combo Guards over the past 30 days. Specifically on Draftkings and FantasyDraft, you can look at IT2 as a reasonable cap relief option with some upside in the neighborhood of 40 fantasy points should he get hot with his shot.
Joel Embiid (ankle) questionable Wednesday; Justin Anderson (ankle) out 7-10 days
Embiid has been listed as questionable on the Philadelphia 76ers’ injury report for Wednesday’s game against the Miami Heat due to a lingering sore right ankle, while Justin Anderson has been diagnosed with a high right ankle sprain and won’t be re-evaluated for another 7-10 days. This is the third time in the last four games that Embiid has been on the receiving end of a questionable designation, and if the recent trend holds true, he’ll go through pregame warmups before clearing himself to play in tonight’s contest. With Anderson sidelined, newly-signed Marco Belinelli is likely to step into his vacated role in the second unit, while either Jerryd Bayless or Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot could enter the rotation and absorb nominal playing time on the wing. Head coach Brett Brown disclosed to reporters during his pregame media availability on Monday that he views Belinelli as the eighth-man in his healthy rotation, which would slot him right behind Anderson and T.J. McConnell in terms of projected minutes, so he should be expected to be promoted to the seventh man in the rotation and log minutes in at least the low-20s for the duration of Anderson’s absence.
As reported by: Zack Rosenblatt via Twitter Other tagged players: Justin Anderson Staking his Claim
After the first two months of the season, nobody would have expected Donovan Mitchell to compete with Ben Simmons for the Rookie of the Year. There is still a long way to go, but Mitchell might be the frontrunner at this point. He has led the Jazz to ten straight wins and he is playing his best basketball of the season. He’s had a usage rate over 30% in each of his last three games and now gets to face the Suns, who own the league’s worst defense. As long as Ricky Rubio is out again, fire up Mitchell in all formats.
