David Lee Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections
Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and David Lee (knee) doubtful for Game 4 on Monday
Kawhi Leonard and David Lee have officially been listed as doubtful for Game 4 tomorrow against the Golden State Warriors due to their respective ailments, and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has already stated that both players are unlikely to suit up Monday night. Should Leonard be ruled out, this would be the third consecutive he was forced to miss due to a sprained left ankle he sustained in the first game of this Western Conference Finals series. Jonathon Simmons would almost assuredly draw his third consecutive start at small forward in Leonard's place if he is unable to give it a go, as expected. With LaMarcus Aldridge struggling to provide consistency on the offensive end in Leonard's absence, the Spurs have relied on Simmons more as a catalyst on both ends of the floor and that is further evidenced by his 17 field goal attempts in back-to-back games as a starter.
David Lee will start ahead of Dewayne Dedmon Tuesday
Lee started ahead of Dedmon in Game 4 and he'll remain in the starting lineup tonight. Dedmon is available to play after missing last game with an illness. Last game, Lee received 33 minutes but he may not see that much time tonight as Dedmon has been playing around 12 minutes per game in this series. Even so, he's an interesting value play on tonight's slate. When on the court with Aldridge and Leonard, he produced 0.8 FD ppm and 0.83 DK ppm across a 346.6-minute sample.
David Lee will start in place of Dewayne Dedmon (illness) Saturday
Dedmon was ruled out earlier today after coming down with an undisclosed illness, so Lee will replace him in the starting lineup against the Grizzlies tonight. Dedmon has averaged 12.7 minutes per game so far this series while Lee has averaged 8.8 off the bench. Pau Gasol is third on the team with 27.3 and he'll probably absorb some of Dedmon's time on the floor as well. That means Lee will likely receive around 20 or fewer minutes tonight. Dedmon's absence may help Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldrige. When Lee is on the court and Dedmon off, Leonard's usage rate rises 2.2% and his production increases by 0.07 FD ppm, bringing it to 1.28. Aldrige's usage stays relatively steady, increasing by 0.3%, but he adds an extra 0.08 FD ppm to his fantasy production for a 1.03 FD ppm pace. Again, they won't play a ton of minutes with Lee, but they should be able to capitalize when they do. When Lee plays alongside this duo, his usage drops 4.1% to 13.0% and his per-minute production drops by 0.10 FD ppm to 0.80. This lineup change could also benefit Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and the Grizzlies offense in general, as Dedmon ranks 5th in the NBA in DRPM (3.99) while Lee is 75th (1.43).
Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Pau Gasol among six Spurs ruled out for Friday
In addition to those three, Manu Ginobili (quad), Danny Green (quad), and Dejounte Murray (groin) have already be ruled out ahead of their matchup with the Mavericks Friday night. That means Kyle Anderson will be the chalk of the day tomorrow. He's been playing really well lately, in his last two starts he produced an average of 30.8 FanDuel points and 32.0 DraftKings points. Not surprisingly, his usage goes up 3.2% when the resting players are out and his FD ppm jumps 0.15 points to 0.87. Jonathon Simmons will also be popular, he leads the team in usage (28.2%) with those players off. David Lee is second (25.1%) and he produces an even 1.0 FD ppm. Those three and Patty Mills will be the strongest plays. Dewayne Dedmon, Tony Parker, and Davis Bertans will also present possible value options though.
David Lee (foot) confirmed as playing tonight
Lee will play in tonight's game against the Memphis Grizzlies after previously being listed as probable on the Spurs' injury report with a sore left foot that had forced him to miss one game. His return to the rotation will presumably eat into the minutes of LaMarcus Aldridge, who saw just over 38 minutes of action in Tuesday's contest. However, for whatever reason, Lee only played 10 minutes in last week's matchup with this same Grizzlies squad, as Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decided to roll with the Aldridge and Pau Gasol frontcourt duo more often than normal. Lee was never in play as a viable option on Thursday's slate, but it will certainly be interesting to see if the aforementioned trend holds true once again, as Aldridge would end up being a much more appealing power forward target.
Correction - David Lee is PROBABLE for Spurs tonight
An update from yesterday where Lee stated he was likely to play after missing the team's last game. The team has listed him as probable confirming this status. Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge will both see a slight decrease in playing time.
David Lee expects to play for Spurs on Thursday
Lee missed San Antonio's last game but is expected to return for the team on Thursday. It'll be a slight hit to the playing time of LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol.
David Lee (sore foot) ruled out tonight
Lee will not play in tonight's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to a sore foot despite never appearing on the Spurs' injury report at any point during the day. His absence from the rotation will open up some extra playing time for Davis Bertans and possibly even Dewayne Dedmon if Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decides to go big more often in order to better matchup with Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng on the defensive end of the floor. This seems to be San Antonio just taking the cautious approach with Lee's injury, and he fully expects to play in Thursday's upcoming contest. In addition to Bertans, expect LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol to see a slight uptick in minutes with Lee sidelined as well.
LaMarcus Aldridge cleared to play; will be available tonight for Spurs
This was a quicker than expected turnaround as Aldridge had been ruled out indefinitely and there was some concern he could miss extended time. The medical staff has cleared him, however, and he will be available tonight with no minutes restrictions against his former team, the Portland Trail Blazers. Given the news that there are no limitations, he's certainly in play for tonight's slate priced at $6,900 on FanDuel and $6,400 on DraftKings. David Lee's value takes a substantial hit with this news.
Spurs are starting Mills, Green, Anderson, Lee, and Dedmon tonight
LaMarcu Aldridge, Tony Parker, and Dejounte Murray have all been ruled out in advance of tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors due to various ailments. In fact, Aldridge will be sidelined indefinitely with a minor heart arrhythmia. The Spurs will start Patty Mills, Danny Green, Kyle Anderson, David Lee, and Dewayne Dedmon for tonight's contest. San Antonio is without starters Aldridge, Parker, and Kawhi Leonard, who remains in the concussion protocol. There's obviously not a huge sample size for the remaining Spurs players with the aforementioned players off the court this season, but Pau Gasol (30.7%), David Lee (23.0%), Manu Ginobili (26.7%), and Patty Mills (25.5%) all see usage rate differentials of at least +4.8% or greater in this scenario. With all the extra usage and fantasy production to go around, Gasol, Lee, and Mills are shaping up to be cash game staples on tonight's main slate.