Ron Baker Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Carmelo Anthony will miss tonight's game due to a sore lower back. Derrick Rose is dealing with a knee issue and has also been ruled out. Mindaugas Kuzminskas is expected to start in place of Anthony and Ron Baker is expected to start in place of Rose. Baker played 40 minutes against Miami on Wednesday with Rose out and still only scored 15.3 DK points. He's not an elite option on such a large slate and it's a better to fade his potential ceiling of 20 fantasy points. Mindaugas Kuzminskas is a strong punt option on FanDuel where his salary is at the minimum. Kuzminskas started for Anthony last week and played over 30 minutes in both contests. He has a slightly higher ceiling than Baker but is at an equally deep position. With Jaylen Brown already confirmed as a starter for the Celtics, Kuzminskas will be the lower owned GPP pivot.

Rose will not play in tonight's game against the Miami Heat due to a sore left knee despite never officially being listed on the Knicks' injury report at any point throughout the day. In Rose's absence, Ron Baker will receive the starting nod at point guard. There's enough value available on this slate that Baker is not a particularly viable option, but Carmelo Anthony now becomes an intriguing tournament play at likely reduced ownership following speculation he would be rested in tonight's contest. With that not being the case, Carmelo and Kristaps Porzingis remain the preferred tournament targets from New York, while Guillermo Hernangomez is always worth a look as well given his immense upside. With Rose and Thomas off the floor this season, Anthony leads the Knicks with a 37.9% usage rate, a massive 6.7% bump from his season total.

Rose and Thomas will not play in tonight's game against the Portland Trail Blazers after previously being listed on the Knicks' injury report with sore right foot and sore right hip respectively. However, Carmelo Anthony will also not play due to a sore left knee despite never receiving an injury designation at any point throughout the day. The Knicks have officially confirmed that Ron Baker, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, and Guillermo Hernangomez will replace Rose, Anthony, and Thomas in the starting lineup this evening. Kristaps Porzingis surprisingly hasn't historically seen a bump in usage rate with the aforementioned trio off the court this season, albeit a limited sample size, but he should be expected to carry the offensive load for New York in an exploitable matchup, especially with Brandon Jennings now with the Washington Wizards and unable to fill in with Rose sidelined.

Carmelo Anthony will not play in tonight's game against the Orlando Magic due to a sore left knee despite never appearing on the Knicks' injury report at any point throughout the day. Ron Baker will surprisingly replace him in the Knicks starting lineup, which will presumably slide Courtney Lee down to the small forward spot. Normally, Baker would be worth a look in tournaments in this scenario, but given the size of this slate and the plethora of other value available, Baker can essentially be removed from consideration entirely. Kristaps Porzingis was already a popular option on tonight's slate prior to the Carmelo news and certainly can be given projections bump, but Derrick Rose may be the better overall play, as he owns a massive 10.5% usage rate differential (38.0%) with Carmelo and the recently released Brandon Jennings off the court this season. The sample size is not gigantic, but Rose is certainly worth a decent amount of tournament exposure in hopes he sees a usage bump similar to the aforementioned CourtIQ query.

The Knicks will stick with the same starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Ron Baker, Carmelo Anthony, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, and Kyle O'Quinn for tonight's game against the Washington Wizards. It was previously speculated that Kristaps Porzingis would start at center, but he will come off the bench as the Knicks' will likely (should) monitor his minutes. O'Quinn proved on Wednesday night that he is nothing more than a tournament play even when he starts, while Kuzminskas is also probably better reserved for tournaments, as his minute floor is lowered with Porzingis available off the bench.

Kuzminskas and Baker will join usual starters Joakim Noah, Carmelo Anthony, and Derrick Rose for the Knicks today in their game against the Hawks. Courtney Lee will come off the bench. Kuzminskas and Baker are both excellent value options and Baker is especially intriguing at or near minimum price across the industry.