Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) goes in for a dunk against the Chicago Bulls during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Haynes)
Welcome to the daily updates and injury news article. We'll try and update it right up to line-up locks with as much information as comes across our desks. Let's get to it!
Last night's picks can be found here, so you can wrap your mind around what you need to be looking at before lineups lock tonight.
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Now let’s look at some news that’s come in throughout the day to see if anything’s changed in our minds or in the NBA landscape. It's a shorter slate and a light news day, but we'll be updating as stuff rolls in. Also throw out some ideas in the comments and we can take it from there.
Today's a light day on the news front. As of right now, there isn't much we are waiting to know or too many injury pieces shaking out. This being the NBA or course these things change on a dime, but heading into the afternoon all is quiet.
This situation continues to make for a crowded front court in Phoenix. The Suns have a number of guys who would instantly become must plays if we had any sense of consistent and robust minutes. But that isn't the case. Instead they rotate minutes among Len, Chandler, Humphries, Teletovic and Leuer. All are coming very cheap and with Chandler coming back the minutes stand to get diminished even more on the player level.
This would have major repercussions on lineups. Right now Dipo is basically a must play in our system. But the issue with his thigh throws a monkey wrench in that scenario for a couple of reasons. Of course, if he were ruled out then Fournier would get a major minutes' bump and most likely enter must play territory. The other issue though is if Dipo does play, how we handle his minutes. He's such a beast in the system right now because he projects at such a huge amount of run. Injury issues throw that into question. Luckily this is the first game on the slate so we should have some answers. Update: Dipo is playing.
I doubt this happens today, but news came down earlier that the Nets are considering just buying the dude out and getting it over with. Brooklyn is a trainwreck and Johnson is one of the least exciting players in the league to watch. Getting rid of him would open up major minutes for some of the scrubs who sit the bench behind him.
I take this back. Joe Johnson has been waived. It's a little unclear how this plays out. For now I've bumped up Bojan Bogdanovic, Markel Brown and Wayne Ellington some minutes each.
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 51.11 DK Proj. Pts - 53
Opponent - SAS
FD Proj. Pts - 24.98 DK Proj. Pts - 26.46
These guys are showing up everywhere on FanDuel and it makes sense. The savings on one allows you to spend on the other. The Pelicans are one of the worst defenses in the league, leaving a ton of opportunity for Westbrook to do his thing. From a safety perspective, it doesn't get much better than Russ. He's just such a lock for a high floor mostly because of his video game/ cheat code style that has him all over the court. He is the toughest player to fade both from an actual numbers-pov but also from a "heart attack" sense as well. One simply cannot fire up League Pass for an OKC game and root against the guy.
Mack other other hand is a must play if he's named the starter again. Judging on his minutes over the last two games, this seems close to a lock. It also helps that Raul Neto is the only guy standing in his way. Which is to say, very little is standing in Mack's path.
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View Comments
Hey guys mack isn't showing up in my lineup tool any1 know why?
Yup sorry about that. Brief data issue as I transferred something over. Fixed now.
Suns are a mess. Zero reason for them to play Chandler other than getting their "moneys worth" out of his deal. They should have two objectives at this point... lose a ton of games and get a ton of minutes for all the kids to see what pieces fit/work for next season. With the exception of Tucker seems like a lot of nights they cap minutes for some unknown reason. Tough to roster anyone on that team when they start Chandler. One or more of the bigs will either get a DNPC or will be barely visible on the stat sheet.
Still don't trust that OKC game. Fully expect Russ and Durant to be on the bench the entire 4th quarter laughing it up.
Is the assumption that a combination of Jennings, Payton, and Fournier would make up Dipo's minutes if he sits? Maybe more Aaron Gordon at the 3 and Ilya at the 4 with Fournier playing the 2, leaving Vuc all the run he can handle? And how does this affect the line and odds of a blowout making GS players more risky?
So much trickle down effects to the Dipo GTD tonight.
Definitely a chance they just go small to keep up - but I'd guess it's more likely Gordon goes to the 5 and battles Draymond there.
This game is going to be a blowout, IMO.
Joe Johnson has been waived
Probably only a matter of time before he signs with the Cavs or Thunder.
Any thoughts on Harden tonight? Hes been consistently in the mid 50's in his last 5 and I like the pace with Portland.
Thoughts on how Joe's minutes shake out? He was old but dude still logged 30+ minutes every night.
Ellington!!!!
I like the idea of Bojan Bogdanovic as a punt play tonight. He's been averaging 22 minutes a game in February, WITH Joe Johnson on the roster.
With Joe Johnson out, should I play Bojan or Phil Pressey as my pint tonight? GPP
Both risky I think.
I would imagine Ellington Bogdanovic and Thomas Robinson all get little bumps but are any of them worth using?
Even with the plus matchup tonight, it's too hard to guess on BKN's guards and wings without seeing it play out post-Joe Johnson. I am valuing BroLo and Thad much higher tonight because the offense should almost completely go through them.
Totally agree here. Gave some of their secondary guys minor bumps.
do you go cheap at center tonight.