Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 3/20/16

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.

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!

What We Know

Anthony Davis is out
The Pelicans are considering shutting down Anthony Davis for the rest of the year. This decision will have huge implications on how we attack this team the rest of the way. Ryan Anderson is the direct beneficiary as he will step up and play 35 minutes and shoot 20 times. This will also give a huge boost to Jrue Holiday and whoever ends up starting at point guard. Anthony Davis being out opens up a total of 15 shots and 33 minutes that will need to be filled. I look for the majority of those to be taken up by Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson. The Pelicans take on the Clippers tonight in a game that will be filled with fantasy goodness. Ryan Anderson will immediately immersed into a terrific match-up. The Clippers have given up over 50 fantasy points to Serge Ibaka, Zach Randolph and Paul Millsap in just the month of March. Anderson is a phenomenal play tonight in all formats.

What We're Waiting to Know

Will Carmelo Anthony play?
Carmelo Anthony has been diagnosed with a migraine and is officially questionable for the Sunday tilt against Sacramento. I would generally ignore this and fully expect him to play, but I don't think you can do that here due to the situation the Knicks are in. The Knicks have been virtually eliminated from the playoffs which may result in some of the veterans resting towards the end of the season. If Melo does sit, I like Derrick Williams to get a huge boost in minutes and production. I would be comfortable playing Williams in cash games and tournaments.

Will Norris Cole play?
Norris Cole has pulled his back and is questionable for tonight. This directly correlates with Anthony Davis being out and has a huge impact on Jrue Holiday. The Pelicans have been on record saying they want to limit Jrue Holidays' minutes. They might not have that option. If both Anthony Davis and Norris Cole are out the Pelicans are going to need a guard that can score the ball. You can expect Holiday to get 35 minutes if Cole is out which is plenty to hit value. Tim Frazier is a viable tournament play as well if Cole is out.

Will Omri Casspi play?
Casspi is officially questionable for the game against the Knicks. This is a tricky one due to Casspi being the Kings sixth man. If Casspi is out, you can look at James Anderson as a good tournament play in a game that should be close and high scoring. This would also solidify minutes for Rudy Gay and Darren Collison.

Will Elfrid Payton play?
The status of Elfrid Payton has a huge role on the entire offense of the Orlando Magic. Victor Oladipo is the main beneficiary if Payton is out as he will take over as the primary ball-handler. Brandon Jennings will also come into play as he will step into the starting lineup and pick up a ton of minutes. I see Victor Oladipo as a near must play if Payton is out and Jennings as a strong tournament play.

The "Every Lineup" Guys

Ryan Anderson
Opponent - LAC
FD Proj. Pts - 30.26 DK Proj. Pts - 33.09

Ryan Anderson will be in every single lineup I make tonight. Anderson has proven time after time his ability to produce when given the opportunity. He is also in arguably the best match-up possible against the Clippers without Blake Griffin. Anderson is projected to play 36 minutes and I fully expect him to shoot over 20 times. The Clippers will likely throw a combination of Paul Pierce and Mbah a Moute at Anderson. Good luck. I am looking at a floor of 28 here with a ceiling around 45.

Isaiah Thomas
Opponent - PHI
Proj. FD Pts - 37.20 DK Proj. Pts - 39.74

Jrue Holiday
Opponent - LAC
FD Proj. Pts - 39.77 DK Proj. Pts - 41.39

This is one of those site-dependent kind of things. The little bit of savings you get on each guy depending on the site matters. Holiday is coming in all of the FanDuel lineups right now on the expectation he sees more shots and playing time with Anthony Davis out of the lineup.

Meanwhile, Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics will be taking on the 76ers and their horrid defense tonight. Thomas will be matched with two poor perimeter defenders in Ish Smith and Isaiah Canaan. I expect this game to stay relatively close which will result in Thomas getting around 33 minutes. Thomas has averaged 40.3 fantasy points in his 3 previous games against the 76ers this year. IT2 will be able to get open shots on the perimeter and get to the rim with ease and regularity. Thomas is a great cash game and tournament play.

These are players that show up in each of the top 10 lineups as produced by our lineup optimizer. This doesn't necessarily mean that they're "safe," it just means that their projected weighted-mean point total is a solid building block for a great lineup foundation today.

Good luck out there today! If you want access to all of our numbers, get started with a free trial below of our lineup optimizer, on us!