DFS Alerts
Dwyane Wade (illness) questionable Tuesday
Wade was absent from shootaround Tuesday morning and is officially listed as questionable on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ injury report for Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic due to an illness. Head coach Tyronn Lue mentioned to reporters that the team’s original plan was for Wade to play in tonight’s contest and rest him on the second leg of the back-to-back set on Wednesday evening, but that plan appears to be up in the air with Wade’s official status still undetermined. Wade’s minutes have been a bit inconsistent since Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Rose returned to the Cleveland lineup following their respective injury absences, but he has still flashed tournament upside on occasion and is fourth on the Cavaliers with 25.7% usage rate with Kevin Love off the court during that timespan. On top of that, Wade is averaging 1.11 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.12 on FanDuel in this scenario as well.
As reported by: Marla Ridenour via Twitter
Willie Cauley-Stein (knee, foot) will start Monday
Cauley-Stein has officially been cleared to play and will start in tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls after previously being listed as probable on the Sacramento Kings’ injury report with a right knee bone bruise and sprained left foot, despite averaging 32.5 minutes per game since returning from a two-game injury absence. Meanwhile, Malachi Richardson will remain sidelined for the fifth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle but is a fringe rotation player, at best, in head coach Dave Joerger’s wing rotation. Cauley-Stein has been listed as probable each of the last two games and managed to handle a full minute workload each time, so the earlier news of his injury status should not affect his projected or perceived fantasy value in any way on Monday’s slates.
As reported by: Kayte Christensen via Twitter Wilson Chandler (illness) and Darrell Arthur (knee) available to play Monday
Chandler didn’t participate in shootaround Monday morning but has officially been cleared to play in tonight’s game against the Charlotte Hornets after previously being listed as questionable on the Denver Nuggets’ injury report with an illness. Meanwhile, Darrell Arthur is also available to play following his earlier questionable designation on the injury report due to right knee soreness. Additionally, Mason Plumlee remains sidelined with a strained left calf, and Jamal Murray was not included on the injury report despite dealing with a thigh issue that is reportedly still giving him some trouble. It’s been nearly impossible to project a pattern in Malone’s carousel at the starting power forward position, as Chandler, Arthur, and Trey Lyles have all started at one point or another in recent games. Based purely on the matchup, Arthur or Lyles seem to be the likeliest candidates to start and match up with Frank Kaminsky on the defensive end of the floor, but at this point, no lineup or rotation decisions made by Malone should come as a surprise.
As reported by: Gina Mizell via Twitter Other tagged players: Darrell Arthur Luke Kennard (sore great toe) will play Monday
Kennard has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for tonight’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers after previously being listed as questionable on the Detroit Pistons’ injury report with a sore left great toe that had forced him to miss one game. Meanwhile, Dwight Buycks will miss his second consecutive due to an illness following his original questionable designation on the injury report. Head coach Stan Van Gundy opted to utilize a tight seven-man rotation for the most part in Saturday’s contest with Buycks and Kennard both unavailable, forcing Anthony Tolliver into extensive minutes at both forward positions. In their absences, Langston Galloway served as the primary backup point guard behind Ish Smith and had a significant role in the backcourt rotation. The massive minute workload allotted to the starting unit in the previous game may be in some doubt for Monday’s contest, as the Pistons have recalled Kay Felder and Reggie Hearns from the G-League to provide some depth at the guard positions, though it does remain unclear whether they will actually see any playing time with Kennard also available to play.
As reported by: James Edwards III via Twitter Donovan Mitchell (illness) and Rodney Hood (leg) will play Monday
Mitchell has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans after previously being upgraded to probable from questionable on the injury report with flu-like symptoms that had forced him to be a late scratch from Saturday’s win. Meanwhile, Rodney Hood will also play following his earlier probable designation on the injury report, and Joe Johnson is available to play after sitting for planned rest on Saturday evening. Hood came off the bench in his first game back from a six-game absence due to a lower left leg contusion and logged 15 minutes, which allowed Joe Ingles to remain in the starting lineup at small forward and play 29 minutes total. Alec Burks ended up drawing the start at the shooting guard spot and played 24 minutes but with Mitchell and Hood available, he’ll likely see his recent role with the second unit drastically reduced.
As reported by: Andy Larsen via Twitter Other tagged players: Rodney Hood Willie Cauley-Stein (knee, foot) probable Monday; Malachi Richardson (ankle) remains out
Cauley-Stein has been added to the Sacramento Kings’ injury report and is listed as probable for tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls due to a right knee bone bruise and sprained left foot despite averaging 32.5 minutes per game since returning from a two-game injury absence. Meanwhile, Malachi Richardson will remain sidelined for the fifth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle but is a fringe rotation player, at best, in head coach Dave Joerger’s wing rotation. Cauley-Stein has been listed as probable each of the last two games and was cleared to play each time, so this news should not affect the expectation of his availability in any way.
As reported by: Sean Cunningham via Twitter Other tagged players: Malachi Richardson Hassan Whiteside (illness) will play Monday
Whiteside has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for tonight’s game against the Orlando Magic after originally being listed as questionable on the Miami Heat’s injury report with an illness that forced him to miss shootaround and Saturday’s loss. In his absence, head coach Erik Spoelstra opted to start Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk in the frontcourt while bringing James Johnson off the bench. However, with Whiteside returning, both Adebayo and Olynyk should resume their normal reserve roles with Johnson reclaiming his typical starting power forward spot. The Heat also made a change to the starting lineup at the wing positions, inserting Justise Winslow at small forward and moving Josh Richardson to the shooting guard position, a move that sent Tyler Johnson to the bench to assume his former sixth-man role. Olynyk logged a team-high 40 minutes on Saturday, as Spoelstra utilized just an eight-man rotation, but his playing time should be expected to return to their typical 20-24 minutes levels with Whiteside back in the starting lineup this evening.
As reported by: Anthony Chiang via Twitter Myles Turner (sore knee) will play Monday
Turner has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for tonight’s game against the Washington Wizards after previously being listed as questionable on the Indiana Pacers’ injury report with a lingering sore right knee. However, the Pacers will be without Victor Oladipo and Darren Collison, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is expected to miss the next two-to-three weeks. Additionally, Glenn Robinson has been deemed as “not quite” ready to play, according to head coach Nate McMillan, despite being listed as questionable on the original injury report. Lance Stephenson and Cory Joseph will start at shooting guard and point guard, respectively, and both stands to benefit from a playing time perspective with Oladipo and Collison sidelined. On top of that, they both own at least a +3.6% usage rate differential with them off the court this season, while Stephenson has seen his production spike to 1.03 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.00 on FanDuel in this scenario as well.
As reported by: Tom Lewis via Twitter Victor Oladipo (illness) ruled out Monday; Darren Collison (knee) to miss 2-3 weeks
Oladipo has officially been ruled out and won’t play in tonight’s game against the Washington Wizards after previously being listed as questionable on the Indiana Pacers’ injury report with an illness, while Darren Collison will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is expected to miss the next two-to-three weeks following his original questionable designation on the injury report. Additionally, Glenn Robinson has been deemed as “not quite” ready to play, according to head coach Nate McMillan, despite being listed as questionable, and Myles Turner will play, as expected, after suiting up each of the previous two occasions he received a questionable tag. Lance Stephenson and Cory Joseph will start at shooting guard and point guard, respectively, and both stands to benefit from a playing time perspective with Oladipo and Collison sidelined. On top of that, they both own at least a +3.6% usage rate differential with them off the court this season, while Stephenson has seen his production spike to 1.03 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.00 on FanDuel in this scenario as well.
As reported by: the Indiana Pacers via Twitter Other tagged players: Darren Collison, Lance Stephenson, Cory Joseph, Glenn Robinson III Evan Turner (calf) ruled out Monday; Shabazz Napier (toe) available to play
Turner has officially been ruled out and won’t play in tonight’s game against the Detroit Pistons after previously being listed as questionable on the Portland Trail Blazers’ injury report with a sore left calf, while Shabazz Napier has been cleared to play and will suit up following a one-game absence due to a sore left great toe. Turner managed to play 23 minutes in Sunday’s contest, so he must have presumably suffered a setback to his injured calf, or Portland has opted to just be cautious with him on the second leg of a back-to-back set. Moe Harkless surprisingly logged a whopping 31 minutes yesterday filling in for Napier and Turner and performed well from a fantasy perspective, likely setting him up as a popular option for daily fantasy formats now that Turner has been deemed unavailable. Pat Connaughton didn’t see an increase in his role with the second unit, playing just 18 minutes, so he’s probably best avoided on all sites across the industry even though the Trail Blazers are shorthanded at the wing positions this evening.
As reported by: NBC Sports Northwest via Twitter Other tagged players: Shabazz Napier Extra Minutes Available Because Of Injury
Mario Hezonja has really taken advantage of Aaron Gordon being out, and is set to play solid minutes again tonight. He has a 21.8% usage rate and he’s averaging .84 fantasy points per minute without Gordon, Vucevic, and Ross on the floor this season. Mario should be popular tonight, but make sure to pay attention to news leading up to the game. There are still talks of trading him before the deadline, so I’d pay attention to that and be aware of that playing him tonight. With small forward such a mess tonight, I’m willing to take the risk if we don’t hear anything. He’s played at last 24 minutes and has at least 24 fantasy points in four straight games.
Wilson Chandler (illness) probable Monday; Darrell Arthur (knee) questionable
Chandler didn’t participate in shootaround Monday morning, according to head coach Mike Malone, but has officially been listed as probable on the Denver Nuggets’ injury report for tonight’s game against the Charlotte Hornets with an illness, while Darrell Arthur also didn’t participate in shootaround and is questionable due to right knee soreness. Additionally, Mason Plumlee remains sidelined with a strained left calf, and Jamal Murray was not included on the injury report despite dealing with a thigh issue in Saturday’s win. It’s been nearly impossible to project a pattern in Malone’s carousel at the starting power forward position, as Chandler, Arthur, and Trey Lyles have all started at one point or another in recent games. Based purely on the matchup, Arthur, if he plays, or Lyles could be the likeliest candidates to start and match up with Frank Kaminsky on the defensive end, but at this point, no lineup or rotation decisions made by Malone should come as a surprise.
As reported by: T.J. McBride via Twitter Other tagged players: Darrell Arthur Where Should You Play Me?
Nikola Mirotic is one of the best value plays on the slate for DraftKings. FanDuel did an excellent job with raising his price, but he’s too cheap on DraftKings tonight. He played 35 minutes off the bench in his debut, and finished up with 45+ fantasy points. He put up 35 minutes against Utah earlier this season with the Bulls, and he’s the type of player that can excel in this matchup. It’s a tough matchup on paper, but that’s not going to scare me off of him at this price.
Harrison Barnes (ankle sprain) ruled out Monday
Barnes has officially been ruled out and won’t play in tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers after previously being listed as questionable on the Dallas Mavericks’ injury report with a sprained left ankle he sustained during Saturday’s win. In his absence, Yogi Ferrell is likely to receive the starting nod at the shooting guard spot, a move that slides Wesley Matthews over to small forward in head coach Rick Carlisle’s three-guard starting lineup he utilized for a large portion of the early season. However, Dwight Powell has started the past two games alongside Dirk Nowitzki in the frontcourt and averaged 29 minutes per contest, while Maxi Kleber was almost a DNP-CD the last time out, logging just over one minute of court time. Nowitzki’s ceiling is a bit capped given his typical minute allotment, but he does own a +4.5% usage rate differential with Barnes, Nerlens Noel, and Dorian Finney-Smith off the court this season and has averaged 1.10 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.07 on FanDuel in this scenario.
As reported by: Eddie Sefko via Twitter Ready to Thrive Without Mirotic
The Bulls have eliminated their surplus at power forward with the trade of Nikola Mirotic, and now Bobby Portis should be in line for expanded minutes on a nightly basis. It would be nice to see him crack the starting lineup, but he is still thriving off the bench. He has logged double figure rebounds in each of the last two games, and the upside is definitely there. Hopefully, he can start logging around 30 minutes per game. In any case, the upside is there against a Kings team that really struggles defensively in the frontcourt. Portis is still fairly priced and should be a virtual lock for a double-double here.
