Trevor Booker Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Booker won't suit up for Thursday's matchup with the Sacramento Kings due to a sprained right ankle he sustained during the first half of Tuesday's win. Head coach Nat McMillan went back to utilizing a 10-man rotation with Domantas Sabonis available for the previous game, so with Booker unavailable, he'll likely reduce that number back down to nine, increasing the minute floor of Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Thaddeus Young in the frontcourt. Sabonis managed to play 23 minutes in his first game back from a sprained left ankle, and he was stellar in the Pacers' prior meeting with the Kings, recording a 22.4% usage rate and posting 1.49 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.38 on FanDuel in that contest. However, the Pacers were without Turner that night, limiting the appeal of Sabonis outside of a dart throw in tournament formats.

Booker has officially been cleared to play and will suit up for Thursday's game against the Toronto Raptors after previously being listed as questionable on the Indiana Pacers' injury report with a sprained right ankle. Meanwhile, Domantas Sabonis has already been ruled out for the next two games due to a sprained left ankle, which should open up some playing time in the frontcourt for the likes of Booker and Al Jefferson with the second unit. In the games that Sabonis has missed this season, Jefferson has averaged just over 17 minutes per game off the bench, but with Booker now in the fold, it will be difficult for him log that type of playing time or become relevant in daily fantasy formats on a sizable nine-game main slate.

Embiid has officially been listed as questionable on the Philadelphia 76ers'injury report for tonight's game against the Toronto Raptors after an earlier report surfaced from ESPN that speculated he may miss the next two games with back tightness that has already forced him to be sidelined two consecutive games. Meanwhile, Trevor Booker has also been listed as questionable with gastroenteritis, and J.J. Redick has been ruled out with right hamstring tightness and is preemptively considered doubtful for Saturday's contest. Despite the questionable designation, Embiid appears on track to play based on comments to reporters from several teammates stating that "he looks good" and "he'll probably play" following shootaround. With Redick unavailable, Jerryd Bayless will likely draw the start at the shooting guard spot alongside Ben Simmons in the backcourt, though in the previous game Redick was sidelined T.J. McConnell was the more productive guard and logged nearly 29 minutes off the bench. The starters that stand to benefit the most from Redick's absence are Simmons and Robert Covington, as each own at least a +2.8% usage rate differential with Redick off the court this season, and Covington has seen his production increase to 1.12 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.08 on FanDuel in this scenario.

Booker has surprisingly been cleared to play and will be available off the bench for tonight's game against the Sacramento Kings after previously being ruled out for both games of the Philadelphia 76ers back-to-back set with a sprained left ankle. He reportedly won't be subject to a minute restriction but it's difficult to imagine him seeing more than the 18-19 minutes of action he is typically allotted, even with Joel Embiid missing his second straight game due to rest and a sore back. Embiid was previously expected to return for Tuesday's second leg of a back-to-back set, but it appears the Philadelphia 76ers' medical staff opted to err on the side of caution after Embiid logged a career-high 49 minutes in Saturday's triple-overtime loss. In his absence, Amir Johnson will draw his second consecutive start at center after playing just 14 minutes in his first spot start and was largely disappointing from a fantasy perspective. Instead, it was Richaun Holmes and Dario Saric who absorbed a large majority of the playing time at center, the former easily exceeding salary-based expectations in 22 minutes of action. With Embiid off the court this season, it's been Saric, Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, and T.J. McConnell that have been largest beneficiaries from a usage standpoint, as each owns at least a +3.6% usage rate differential, but Saric, Covington, and J.J. Redick have been the most productive and all have averaged over a fantasy point per minute in this scenario.

Saric was officially listed as questionable on the Philadelphia 76ers' injury report for tonight's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a right corneal abrasion and left eye laceration that has already forced him to miss one game, while T.J. McConnell has been ruled out with a nagging left shoulder issue. The Sixers are also without Joel Embiid for Saturday's contest due to workload management and has yet to be cleared by the medical staff to play in back-to-back situations. Assuming Saric is eventually ruled out, Amir Johnson and Richaun Holmes at center and power forward, respectively, while Trevor Booker, who was just acquired in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, at the time of this writing, was spotted at the team's morning shootaround and will be available to play off the bench. That said, Ben Simmons and Robert Covington are the ones that stand to benefit the most from a usage standpoint sans Embiid, as each own at least a +3.7% usage rate differential with the big man off the court this season, but Covington has capitalized the most on this extra usage thus far and is averaging 1.14 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.09 on FanDuel in the aforementioned scenario.

The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a trade Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, and a second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Trevor Booker and, in order to make room for both players on the active roster, Brooklyn will release Sean Kilpatrick, who has seen sporadic playing time of late in the backcourt rotation. In terms of Thursday's daily fantasy slates, this trade has a few impacts as Stauskas' absence could free up a few minutes for Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Jerryd Bayless off the bench is T.J. McConnell is unable to suit up. On the Brooklyn side, Booker and Kilpatrick's playing time will likely be spread around to Tyler Zeller, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll, and Allen Crabbe, though Zeller may be the only one to see a significant enough bump to warrant any additional consideration in daily fantasy formats.