Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) against Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov (20) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 108-102. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
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.
By the way - we keep our projection system updated with all of the changes as they occur throughout the day right up until lineup lock. Every day. If you want access to that system so you can cut out a lot of the research element, click the button below!
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
These are guys that seem to show up in all of the top lineups in our lineup optimizer. Enjoy!
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 30.84 DK Proj. Pts - 32.12
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.
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View Comments
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