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Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 3/2/16
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.
What We Know
Kobe Bryant is back, and Lou Williams is out
But man, it'll be tough to walk away from what D'Angelo Russell has been doing recently. Still, keep in mind that Bryant plays 30 minutes a game with 30% usage when he's out there, and Russell's usage drops by almost 20% (from 28 to 24) with Bryant on the floor. Lou Williams' day off makes D'Angelo a little more interesting for sure, as that's another 20+ back-courts to redistribute. Still, Russell had been fluctuating between high 20s and low 30s minutes before Bryant's rest, and he won't be nearly as effective on fewer minutes with fewer usage. I'll be staying away from him until we see what his "new normal" is.
Will Barton will be the man for a while with Gallinari sidelined
Not a great game for Barton in his first Gallo-free game, but that just keeps the price affordable for a great match-up with the Lakers. Play him anywhere.
What We're Waiting to Know
Jahlil Okafor's status
He missed Monday's game, and Jerami Grant put up another terrific game in starter's minutes. This is a huge one - if Okafor is out, Grant is a terrific play once again against a soft Charlotte front court. UPDATE: Okafor is out. Grant gets a big boost.
Kenneth Faried's status
Faried is being listed as questionable with another lower back strain, which is a real shame given the way he's been crushing. This throws a ton of uncertainty into the mix for Denver, who is not only missing Danilo Gallinari, but also starting a hobbled Emmanuel Mudiay. My guess is that this is going to free up playing time for the cascade of Nugget big men, and I'd be very interested in grabbing a guy like Darrell Arthur, who is already playing lots of minutes before Faried's PT got called into uncertainty.
Rudy Gay - questionable, or out?
He missed Monday's game, and is listed as questionable for tonight's game. If he's out, it's a little dicey to figure out exactly who will benefit the most. Omri Casspi has benefited historically, but he only played 25 minutes on Monday, and it was Quincy Acy who saw the biggest boost. James Anderson saw 18 minutes a game after playing 0. Acy looks like a reasonable big tournament play if Gay is out, but I'm not sure this moves the needle for me much otherwise other than shifting even more usage toward Demarcus Cousins.
Evan Fournier - in or out?
Welp, we all got Skilesed last game, losing big minutes from all of our "must play" Magic guys. This has happened earlier this season, as well. One thing that hasn't happened? He hasn't messed with the starters' minutes for two games in a row. Can I call it safe? I guess not. But Oladipo and Hezonja both stand to be huge winners if Fournier is out again in what should be a fast paced match-up with the Bulls. UPDATE: Fournier is out.
Who will play for Chicago, and how much
The Bulls' minutes were all over the place on Tuesday, and it has my head spinning. Rose was back, but played 24 minutes. Taj Gibson played, but "felt something" in his hamstring that could cause him to miss tonight. If he's out, Bobby Portis should be a great play. Hanging like a cloud over analyzing last night's game is the fact that the starters didn't play the 4th, so we don't really know how many minutes Rose and Moore would have played had the game stayed close. Given the number of games going tonight, I think I'll just stay away.
Anthony Davis - AKA Glass Joe - in or out?
Davis made it through a full practice on Tuesday, and things look good for now. And, God, this is a phenomenal match-up with an awful Rockets power-forward defense. But will Davis make it through another game all season without getting dinged up? Whoa, bitter James, cool down. Davis brings great upside but obvious risk at this point. How you handle that is up to you!
Tony Allen's status
Not that you can play Allen, but if he's back, it should disrupt the minutes we're getting used to for volatile guys like Lance Stephenson. Lance is an interesting play (even on mid twenties minutes) if Allen is out, but I'd stay way if Allen manages to return.
The "Every Lineup" Guys
These are guys that seem to show up in all of the top lineups in our lineup optimizer. Enjoy!
Will Barton - FD 6000 DK 6000
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 30.84 DK Proj. Pts - 32.12
Darrell Arthur - FD 3700 DK 3900
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 20.82 DK Proj. Pts - 21.77
World-class match-up with the Lakers. Lots of minutes. Lots of usage. Even on a big slate, it's Will B. time everywhere for me - and likewise with Arthur if Faried is out.
Anthony Davis
A good case study in "high projection doesn't mean safety." Davis could go off for a tournament-winning total against a bad Rockets squad, or he could exit early with sore toes or whatever. If you want safety, you may want to exclude him from your lineups.
Good luck out there today! If you want access to all of our numbers, get started with a free trial below - on us! You can also get started with DFSR pro - our brand new lineup optimizer!
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Faried, Davis, dieng all are 90% to play. That means no shabazz for me or Anderson or even jokic. Hmm might invest 10% of what I put in last night.
It’s a huge slate, and there will be a nice combination of value guys and steady mid-priced guys (our system likes Rubio a lot) to choose from. Not a night to take off, IMO, because you can find certainty and fade uncertainty, letting others take the risks.
I think Portis is pretty safe tonight, and likely for weeks to come. He is going to get a ton of run of Taj is as hurt as he sounds. My prediction–he’s going to make the Aaron Gordon price leap over the next few weeks.
Sounds like Faried is in, I’m fading him and Arthur mostly because I don’t know what to expect minutes wise. So many good PF plays today.
The system loveesss timmy D today. Im not sure in cash games considereing he will be like 1.2% owned. What u think james?
I’ll pass in cash games for sure.
Orlando makes me nervous. They aren’t out of the playoff hunt but they aren’t exactly in it either. That was an 8 point game at half last night and Skiles didn’t like the effort and ran the bench more than the starters. It was truly odd. Like punting on 3rd and long. Always tough to tell how a team ( especially as young as the Magic) are going to bounce back. I tend to think the “tough love” thing just doesn’t work in the NBA these days.
It would be much easier if Faried, Kobe, Okafor and Rose would just sit out tonight 🙂
Skiles has done that a few times this season. It’s just hard to build into the model, because it’s such unusual behavior. When he’s not doing bizarre stuff, he runs his guys a ton. I’m sort of at a loss, there, and if you like other guys similarly at similar prices I can’t blame you.
Anyone spending up for Paul George or Durant? I don’t trust any other big money like Westy, Davis or Boogie
Also is Canaan starting again? I like him and Bayless a lot more than Mudiay for 1k more. Thoughts?
The system really likes George tonight, but not sure why you’d trust him over Westbrook.
Really like the paring of westbrook and KD in cash tonight. Get like 90% of the thunder offense in a high scoring close affair.
Agreed. Hey James, with Nene back for the Wiz and Faried playing, are Markieff and Darrell still strong plays for cash? Would Bobby Portis make a better play?
Im very nervous about Mack against Kyle Lowry. 2 great defenses playing an extremely slow pace. For me he would be a price only guy but I think he has a very low floor. That said he is dirt cheep. Paul George matched up with the greek freak pace down for the pacers. I see George projected high in numerous systems. I don’t know how I feel about PG. Obviously I like Durant way more in a high total 1 point spread but he is expensive. I also Like Kawhi too. There are some tough choices to make tonight for sure.
Okafor def out tonight
Updates–Fournier, Okafor, Taj Gibson all out tonight. Wish we could get some Brow news sooner than later.
With guys like portis, grant, markieff, and even sully in a prime position to succeed i dont see any reason to take the least consistent perosn in the nba this year(according to basketball monster). Im running this:
Mack
Westy
Harden
Barton
Barns
Roco
Markeiff
Grant
D12
Gl tonight guys
I really like this minus roco
I agree here. When I am running optimal lineups I am taking out Davis on this principle.
Been a lot of good news bad news today as far as DFS goes..
Gortat praised for being aggressive and looked to be inline for big minutes again…then wiz announce Nene is back.
Okafor out helps with some punts… then Sixers announce Hollis Thompson will play and his normal run means 20-30 minutes is at someones expense.
Taj Gibson out but then Bulls annouce Bairstow as the starter.
Ha, these are all great points. I think Portis gets a major bump. Bairstow is a necessarily evil to keep Portis with second unit.
I like canaan as a punt at point alot more than mack for only 100 more. Feels much safer with low 30’s run.
I really like Canaan. Wouldn’t even mind hedging him and Mack if worried.
Is the optimizer down or something? It won’t calculate even with no filters on.
Wish the Pelicans game was at 7pm 🙁 Don’t love hearing the Brow say he’s going to test his toe just before tip-off. Messes with the Pels punts and also messes with some nice Houston plays if the game turns into a route minus the Brow.
Gay is out
The optimizer is down.
Just under the wire… Brow starting.
We are experiencing tech issues right now. Switch to standard tool for now.
shabaz and arthur are still in play…they should reach value evenm with restricted min
Casspi starting.
Top Lineup W Brow
PG Ricky Rubio 34.73 $6,700
PG Jerryd Bayless 22.8 $4,300
SG Will Barton 30.84 $6,000
SG Zach LaVine 25.54 $5,200
SF Paul George 41.57 $8,700
SF Matt Barnes 27.08 $5,200
PF Anthony Davis 52.97 $10,200
PF Markieff Morris 32.21 $5,400
C Dwight Howard 39.23 $8,100
Totals 306.97 $59,800
Can u post the optimal for DK bcuz the optimizer is down, thanks
Would be amazing
PG Russell Westbrook OKC $11,000
PG Chris Paul LAC $10,200
SG Zach LaVine MIN $5,200
SG Will Barton DEN $6,000
SF Matt Barnes MEM $5,200
SF Shabazz Muhammad MIN $4,100
PF Aaron Gordon ORL $6,500
PF Darrell Arthur DEN $3,700
C Nikola Vucevic ORL $8,100
Boom!
Reserved all of my spots only for the site to be down for the past half hour. This is going to be fun to try and figure out.
We sincerely apologize for the issues leading into lineup lock. We are trying to diagnose the issue. First time we’ve had any issues since the LineupLab integration and are working to determine the source of the problem.
I have brow and George tonight both under 5% ownership in my multipliers I love it
Decided not to enter any tourneys with uncertainty
Wow , yet another solid performance for the system . just so I’m clear the advice posted is to be avoided right ? Arthur , Barton , kobi not russle , Barnes ,,, these were the picks to avoid right? Always tomorrow ?