DFS Alerts
Anthony Davis (illness) will play Wednesday, as expected
Davis will suit up for the New Orleans Pelicans’ season opener against the Memphis Grizzlies despite dealing with a stomach issue that forced him to miss the team’s practice on Tuesday. This news was expected, as Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry confirmed with reporters yesterday that Davis would be ready to go for tonight’s opening matchup. With Davis officially available, he’ll start alongside Demarcus Cousins in the frontcourt and is an interesting tournament option in a spot against a Memphis squad that has historically struggled against power forwards and has continuously vowed to play with more pace this season, while Dante Cunningham, E’Twaun Moore, and Jrue Holiday will round out the Pelicans’ starting five with Rajon Rondo sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks recovering from sports hernia surgery.
As reported by: Jim Eichenhofer via Twitter
Raul Neto (hamstring) ruled out Wednesday, Donovan Mitchell expected to see lots of minutes at point guard
Neto will not play in tonight’s season opener against the Denver Nuggets after previously being listed as questionable on the Jazz’ injury report with a sore hamstring. Neto was a limited participant in each of the Utah Jazz’ last two practices, so his unavailability is less than surprising despite Jazz head coach Quin Snyder’s initial optimism. With Dante Exum’s season in jeopardy following shoulder surgery, Neto was firmly entrenched as the Jazz’ backup point guard, and now that he is ruled out, Ricky Rubio should be expected to see extended minutes to pick up the slack at point guard with Donovan Mitchell giving him a breather from time-to-time in what sets up to be a fantastic individual matchup for Rubio against the Nuggets’ point guard duo of Jamal Murray and Emmanuel Mudiay.
As reported by: Andy Larsen via Twitter Other tagged players: Donovan Mitchell Chris Paul (knee) officially listed as questionable Wednesday
Paul is dealing with a bruised left knee that he sustained in Tuesday’s win over the Golden State Warriors and is officially questionable for tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings. This injury designation isn’t all that surprising after Paul said postgame that he was unsure of what his availability would be for Wednesday’s contest and that he and the team will “figure it out”. If Paul is unable to suit up, James Harden and Eric Gordon would both approach must play status given their price tags across the industry. Gordon flirted with 30 minutes of action with Paul a part of the rotation for most of Tuesday’s contest and should see his playing time increase, while Harden would presumably revert back to his 2016-17 usage and assist rates at a much cheaper cost, making him an extreme value, even on the second night of a back-to-back.
As reported by: Jonathan Feigen via Twitter Lauri Markkanen will start at PF for the Bulls on Thursday
As expected, Markkanen will be the Chicago Bulls starting power forward for tomorrow’s game against the Toronto Raptors in wake of the Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic altercation at Bulls’ practice on Tuesday and will presumably retain that role going forward until Portis is eligible to come off of suspension at a minimum. The aforementioned duo’s absence will clear a path to minutes right away for the rookie forward and Markannen is on track to be a viable value option on Thursday night’s slate of games.
As reported by: Nick Friedell via Twitter Other tagged players: Paul Zipser, Quincy Pondexter Bobby Portis suspended 8 games by the Chicago Bulls
Portis has officially been suspended for eight games by the Chicago Bulls following a physical altercation with teammate Nikola Mirotic during the team’s practice on Tuesday. He will be eligible to return from suspension on November 7th against the Toronto Raptors but will be able to practice during that time span. Mirotic and Portis were involved in a shoving match that resulted in Mirotic being hospitalized and suffered an extensive facial fracture from an alleged “cheap shot” thrown by Portis following their initial confrontation. Mirotic is expected to remain out for the foreseeable future, estimated at 4-6 weeks, though the exact details of his injury have yet to be released to the public by team officials.
As reported by: K.C. Johnson via Twitter Other tagged players: Nikola Mirotic Okaro White (shoulder) ruled out for Wednesday night
White has officially been ruled out for tonight’s season opener against the Orlando Magic to a shoulder injury. This news really doesn’t change our approach or opinions of the remaining players in the Miami Heat frontcourt, as White was slated to be an end of the rotation player with the addition of Kelly Olynyk in the offseason. In White’s absence, Jordan Mickey will likely find his way into some playing time but nowhere near enough minutes to make him a viable option in any format.
As reported by: Ira Winderman via Twitter Terrence Ross (hamstring) will play Wednesday, expected to start at SG
Ross participated in the Magic’s shootaround this morning and will suit up for Wednesday’s season opener against the Miami Heat after nursing a strained hamstring throughout the preseason. Ross had missed a majority of the preseason due to the hamstring injury but was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice as well, putting him on track to see his normal allotment of starter’s minutes this evening. With Ross available to play and slated to start, Jonathon Simmons will be relegated to a bench role, albeit, a possibly larger one while Ross gets his legs under him, and becomes a fringe tournament option at best on slate not lacking other viable value options. However, Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic, and Aaron Gordon all still remain well ahead of him in the pecking order for offensive usage in the Magic’s starting unit.
As reported by: John Denton via Twitter A Center to Target for Wednesday
Drummond is going to play more minutes this year, and I don’t think many people seem to know that. He had nasal surgery in the offseason that has helped his breathing, which should result in him logging more effective minutes for this Pistons squad. In the final two games of the PRESEASON, he logged 35 and 38 minutes. We are talking about a guy who averaged 29.7 minutes per game last year. And what else did Drummond average last year? About 1.3 DraftKings points per minute. Even if we are ultra conservative with his minutes at 32, he looks like a great play. You can do the math as to what he looks like as the minutes creep up even higher. Centers are habitually underpriced on DraftKings, and Drummond is my favorite option for cash games there by a decent amount. Lock him in.
One of my Favorite Bench Players
I think I play second unit guys more than anyone in DFS, and that’s probably why RG asked me to focus on salary savers this NBA season. Second unit players have a ton of value, as you generally have to look for the high usage guys off the bench. James Johnson is a guy that loves coming off the bench, and he usually finishes the game with the starting unit. I expect Olynyk to start and Johnson to be the first option off the bench. He had a 26.7% usage and also averaged 1.15 DK points per minute without Whiteside and Dragic on the floor last season. With so many available options on a 11-game slate, I’m going to attack some of these non-obvious plays in GPPs.
A Lot of Risk/Reward
With Ben McLemore and Wayne Selden already ruled out for the game tonight, Chalmers is one of my sneaky GPP value plays. David Fizdale said Mario Chalmers will play a “big role” this season with Memphis. He played anywhere from 14 to 23 minutes in the preseason, and I wouldn’t expect him to be limited in this game tonight. He averaged 22.6 minutes in 2015 but then tore his achilles in March of 2016. With Harrison starting, Chalmers could be the main scoring option with this second unit, yet no one is talking about him. I expect him to be less than 5% owned, but I would imagine it’s closer to 1-3%.
I'm Almost Free on FanDuel
Dennis Smith Jr. is $6,800 on DraftKings tonight, but he’s basically free at $4,300 on FanDuel. With Marcus Smart listed at point guard on FD, I think Smith is a great pivot off him tonight. The former Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year is expected to start at point guard for the Mavericks this season. In 32 games for NC State in 2016-17, he averaged 18.1 points with 6.2 assist per game. He’s a very talented young guard, and he has a really high floor at this FanDuel price tonight.
Early Injuries Give Me a Solid Role
That Gordon Hayward injury was one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen, and I really wish him a speedy recovery. With the injuries to Hayward and Marcus Morris, we should see Jayson Tatum continue to play big minutes. He started for the Celtics last night and should continue in that role for the foreseeable future. He played 37 minutes last night and finished the game with 12 shot attempts, and he was also able to get a double-double. Tatum is an excellent source of value again tonight.
High-Usage, Second-Team Role
The Houston Rockets used a tight eight-man rotation last night against Golden State, and I would expect that to be the case throughout the season. Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker each played 29 minutes off the bench, and Gordon had 16 shot attempts while finishing the game with 24 actual points. The Rockets have another high-pace matchup tonight, so Gordon should continue to record strong usage in his role off the bench.
Can We Trust a Spurs Player?
Kawhi Leonard is not going to play tonight for the Spurs, so that should open up plenty of opportunity for LaMarcus Aldridge as the top offensive weapon on this team. While it’s never sexy to target a San Antonio player, Aldridge did have a 31% usage rate last year with Leonard off the floor. Fire him up while Leonard is sidelined.
The Obvious Value Spot
The Celtics are going to have no choice but to play Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum huge minutes thanks to the gruesome injury to Gordon Hayward. Brown played 40 minutes and racked up 25 points and six boards on Tuesday, and his price is not yet adjusted for that performance. You are going to see a huge jump in his price tag after today, so take advantage of the discount for one final day.