Michael Beasley Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Michael Beasley is available to play Saturday versus the Bucks, he's been nursing a knee injury. He's only a GPP play tonight, mainly because his minutes may not be safe. He does have great upside though.

Kanter has been ruled out, as expected, for Friday's matchup with the Miami Heat due to a sore lower back and right wrist, while Lance Thomas is a late addition to the New York Knicks' injury report and won't play because of an illness. Meanwhile, Michael Beasley will make his return from a one-game absence and will more than likely start at power forward alongside Kyle O'Quinn in the frontcourt this evening. O'Quinn technically remains listed as probable, but assuming he's good to go, he'll be a worthwhile target in all daily fantasy formats at his current price tag and has logged at least 29 minutes in each of the last two games. O'Quinn has never been a high usage player but with Kanter, Thomas, and the other Knicks inactives off the court this season, he is averaging a whopping 1.36 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.45 on FanDuel, which is a +0.23 increase over his season per minute averages.

Enes Kanter will miss his second straight game Tuesday, with a back injury. With Kanter out, Kyle O"Quinn is one of the top value plays of the night. Last game, he started for Kanter and played 32 minutes. He finished with 31.5 FDP. The Orlando Magic rank 26th in defensive efficiency against centers. Luke Kornet will also see some extra run. Michael Beasley will miss tonight's game with an illness. Courtney Lee, Lance Thomas, and Damyean Dotson will combine to fill Beasley's void. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke get a nice bump in usage without Beasley on the court.

Lee is currently not with the team and was officially been ruled out for Tuesday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers due to personal reasons despite never receiving a designation on the New York Knicks' injury report at any point throughout the day. In his absence, Frank Ntilikina will draw the start alongside Emmanuel Mudiay in the backcourt, while Lance Thomas will take over for Michael Beasley at the power forward spot, a change that has been hinted at by head coach Jeff Hornacek in several interviews over the past week. Lee has been averaging just under 19 minutes per game since the All-Star break, so there will certainly be a noteworthy minute void that will need to be filled by the aforementioned players and Trey Burke, who actually only trails Tim Hardaway Jr. in total minutes in the Knicks last five games. On top of that, Burke also owns a +5.1% usage rate differential with Lee off the court this season and has averaged 1.34 fantasy points per minute on DraftKings and 1.32 on FanDuel, setting him up as an intriguing tournament option on Tuesday's slate.

Beasley has been cleared to play and will be available off the bench in tonight's game against the Chicago Bulls after previously being listed as questionable on the New York Knicks' injury report with a sprained right ankle that had forced him to miss one game. Beasley didn't participate in Tuesday's scrimmage but did partake in some contact portions of practice, which provided optimism for his availability this evening. Beasley has become a key cog in the Knicks rotation and has really siphoned playing time away from Enes Kanter of late, as head coach Jeff Hornacek has been utilizing more lineups with Kristaps Porzingis manning the center spot in "small" lineups. The previous time the Knicks squared off with the Bulls, it was Doug McDermott that started at small forward in place of Lance Thomas to better matchup with Nikola Mirotic defensively off the Bulls bench, but that's unlikely to happen again with Mirotic unavailable for Chicago due to an illness.

Beasley has been ruled out and won't play in tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks after previously being listed as questionable on the New York Knicks' injury report with a sprained left ankle he sustained in overtime of Friday's loss. He was unable to participate in Saturday's practice, so his lack of availability for Sunday's contest is far from a surprise. Beasley has really settled into a mid-20s minutes role off the bench, at the expense of Enes Kanter's playing time, which means Kanter could be an interesting tournament target at the center position on Sunday's slate given his likely elevated minute floor. The Knicks are still without Tim Hardaway Jr., who will be re-evaluated next week after taking part in his practice, and with him and Beasley off the court this season, Jarrett Jack actually owns a +4.1% usage rate differential and has logged at least 32 minutes in three of the past five games, adding to his potential appeal in tournament formats this evening.