Brandon Knight Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Brandon Knight (protocols) and Boban Marjanovic (protocols) ruled out Wednesday

Knight has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play off the bench in Sunday's matchup against the New York Knicks despite dealing a strained right hamstring, while Derrick Rose and Luke Kennard remain sidelined with their respective ailments and are still without a timetable for a return. The Pistons are on the second leg of a back-to-back set, so head coach Dwane Casey confirmed with reporters at his pregame media availability that Knight will only play limited minutes with the second unit, which will allow Bruce Brown to rejoin the starting lineup, and he was able to log just under 25 minutes in Saturday's loss, his first game back from an injury layoff due to a sprained right thumb. There isn't a clear beneficiary from this new-look Pistons squad with Rose off the court since the trade deadline, but Christian Wood does lead the way with a 28.7% usage rate and is averaging 1.21 DraftKings and 1.14 FanDuel points per minute in a 186.4 minutes sample size.

Knight is listed out on the updated version of the Cavaliers' injury report and won't play in Wednesday's matchup against the Miami Heat due to a sprained right ankle. Knight recently rejoined the rotation in a minimal role, logging at least 12 minutes in each of the previous two games, so his absence won't have a substantial impact on the remaining members of the guard rotation. Cleveland will also be without Tristan Thompson for rest purposes following the heavy minute workload he’s been asked to absorb in the early portion of the season with Ante Zizic sidelined. Zizic saw his playing time increase to 20 minutes in Monday’s loss, so he could potentially be an intriguing value option on tonight’s 11-game slate if those minutes can find their way into the mid-to-upper-20s this evening.

Capela has been added to the Rockets' injury report and won't play in Monday's matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a right thumb injury that he sustained during Monday's loss, while Knight is officially questionable with a sore left knee that has already forced him to miss one game. Nene was rested in that contest as well, and he'll likely draw the start at center in Capela's place but 20 minutes appears to be Nene's ceiling at this stage in his career, as he's yet to play more than 21 minutes in any game this season. The Rockets did recall Isaiah Hartenstein from the G-League, and either he or Marquese Chriss will compete for the playing time at backup center that hasn't already been claimed by P.J. Tucker in small lineup combinations. There's not a tremendous sample size with Capela, Eric Gordon, and Chris Paul, but in that time, James Harden owns a ridiculous 52.8% usage rate (+10.4%) and is averaging 2.02 DraftKings and 1.91 FanDuel points per minute in a 103.4 minutes sample size.

Knight has officially been downgraded from questionable and won't play in Sunday's matchup against the Orlando Magic due to a sore left knee, while Nene will be rested on the front end of the Rockets current back-to-back set and should be good to go for Monday's contest versus the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow evening. Knight and Nene have both been at the tail-end of head coach Mike D'Antoni's rotation of late, and Knight rarely sees more than 10 minutes of action in competitive games while Nene's playing time typically depends solely on the opposing frontcourt matchup. Their absences will leave Houston with just nine available bodies since Vincent Edwards and Isaiah Hartenstein are in the G-League, but D'Antoni has consistently proven that he's perfectly content utilizing a primary rotation of seven players when shorthanded.

Knight has officially been upgraded from probable and will be available to play in Thursday's matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing every game to this point as he recovered from left knee surgery. Head coach Mike D'Antonio did confirm with reporters that Knight will play a "few" minutes, but barring some drastic change in the rotation, Knight is still unlikely to have a substantial role even when he's back up to full game speed. The Rockets will be without James Ennis, so his absence should allow Gerald Green and Danuel House to see an uptick in minutes in the second unit, while Eric Gordon will draw his second consecutive start alongside James Harden and Chris Paul in this new three-guard starting lineup.

Bledsoe and Chandler did not travel with the team and will not play in tonight's game against the Houston Rockets due to rest. Chandler is also dealing with a sprained right ankle that he sustained in Friday's win over the Chicago Bulls. In their absences, Brandon Knight and Alex Len will receive the starting nods at point guard and center respectively. This is not an injury situation that we have had at any point this season for Phoenix, but Knight, Marquese Chriss, and Alan Williams all see positive usage rate differentials north of 3.0% with Bledsoe and Chandler off the court this season. Without question, the Suns will supply plenty of value for tonight's slate in a great matchup with Houston, but it's just a matter of pegging the right options. Knight, Len, and to some extent Chriss seem to be the players to focus in on given their projected minute floors compared to Williams and Tyler Ulis.