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Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/9/16
Welcome to the daily updates and injury news article. We’ll update this article right up to lineup lock with all information that comes across our desks. You’ll probably find an ongoing discussion below in the Comments section – please jump in with questions, thoughts, etc. All input welcome!
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
Taj Gibson is out
He's out again. Last game Mitotic started though didn't see as many minutes as he saw when coming off the bench. Plus his usage takes a dip when he's on the court with both Butler and Rose (and Gasol). This whole situation is a stay away for me. Everyone on the Bulls seems to cannibalize each other when they are on the court at the same time, at least for fantasy purposes.
UPDATE: Steve Kerr has said he will limit Warriors minutes tonight for starters. Hard to believe this especially if game is close. But have to take it at face value. I've downgraded Curry, Draymond and Klay to around 34 minutes.
What We're Waiting to Know
What Kings will play?
They've been openly tanking over the short term and who can blame them? That's what wins (supposedly) in the NBA. The question tonight is who will be on the court? Boogie hasn't played in the last two even though Karl did say he would play all of the remaining home games. Liar. I think he plays tonight and if so he's a decent option if you think he sees minutes in and around 35. That's far from a lock of course. This is a wait and see for me.
Will OKC rest anyone again?
They sat everyone last game and there isn't much stopping them from doing it again. This game doesn't mean anything to the Thunder and why get hurt against the awful Kings?
The "Every Lineup" Guys
Devin Booker - FD 6700 DK 6900
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 31.5 DK Proj. Pts - 35.16
I think he's one of the safest minutes guys on the slate and going against a terrible team defense in the Pelicans. It's going to get tricky figuring out the bigger money guys today because just about all of them are at risk of significant minutes reductions. Playing guys like Booker around the middle may just be the safest way to go.
Alexis Ajinca - FD 4500 DK 4400
Opponent - PHX
FD Proj. Pts - 26.55 DK Proj. Pts - 26.99
Do you trust the minutes? Me neither. But Ajinca was such an animal last night. He went 37 minutes and put up a ridiculous 28/15 line. Now I don't think you can pencil him anywhere close to that kind of production. But he doesn't need to really at these prices. He just needs to get out there for about 30 minutes in order to be an every lineup guy.
Stephen Curry - FD 10500 DK 10400
Opponent - MEM
FD Proj. Pts - 49.67 DK Proj. Pts - 53.91
He's in all the lineups now mostly because I have him at the highest minutes expectation among the big boys. Golden State is really the only big team with something to play for because they are still chasing those wins. But they are also heavy favorites against Memphis and this could be over early. UPDATE: Kerr has said he would limit starter minutes. Can't trust Curry for cash games I don't think
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!
image sources
- Stephen Curry: (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
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I could be way wrong here but I can see steph sitting out the entire fourth quarter.i just gotta feeling the dubs wrap that game up quick as they get ready for San Antonio tomorrow! Thoughts on KAT would be appreciated
Love KAT tonight Rondall, great matchup and with the uncertainty with the Kings think he might be the better high price play than Boogie
Crazy question, but I saw it slipped by earlier. Is the optimizer built for the big tourneys (top 15-20% payout), or 50/50?
Not a crazy question! The optimal lineups are mean projections and built for 50/50 games specifically.
Teletovic or tucker?
Thoughts on waiters?
I’m a rookie. Love the site. Thanks.
Lillard
Waiters
Tucker
Green
Towns
Douglas
Harkless
Chandler
That’s the squad. Advice? Hate is welcome as well
I’m learning.
I need all the assist. i can get.i dont understand how come 50/50 lineups can’t be used on toirney lineups?
5050 lines you only have to beat 50% of the competition. So you want less volatile players and more consistency. Where in tournaments you have to beat the majority of people. So you need to take a little more risk with players that have high upside. Example. Rubio… Hes Far from consistent for cash games (5050) but has tons of upside for tournaments as he can score 45+ fantasy points at his low price. I hope this helps.
They can. It’s just as a matter of general strategy 50/50 lineups are geared towards safer, high floor plays because you only need to beat half the field. For tournaments generally you will need to have some guys that aren’t safe but have high ceilings because you need to beat a lot more people to do well. I always put any 50/50 lineups I play into a tournament as well because you never know, though. The optimized 50/50 lineup from here actually scored inside the top 250 of the FD shot (86k+ entrants) just last night.
Bogut is out tonight. I think Draymond should get a slight boost from 4.47 in the optimizer imo. He’s a beast with no Bogut as they play a lot of small ball with Draymond at center.
A quick query appeared like Draymond actually dips in usage w/ no Bogut. 18% to 17%
Yes his usage doesn’t really go anywhere but all the other things that create value raise. According to nbawowy.com draymond with bogut scores 1.05fdppm and without Bogut scores 1.21fdppm
Thanks Jared.
With no OKC players resting tonight, how do Westbrook and Durant factor in to lineups, both gpp and 50/50?
I think you can take the risk on Westbrook at PG mostly because there is good value at just about every other position. But he could play like 28 so be prepared for something like that.
Where do I find the optimal lineups
If you are logged in, click the Pro Lineup Tools menu at the top and select the sport and site.
Ryan are you sure okc isn’t resting players? I did read somewhere that they may, and with tonight’s game not holding much weight to them I don’t see why they wouldn’t! Be cautious if you choose to deploy kd or Westbrook
Hey Doug…If I upgrade to pro, do I get pro free for 3 days or does it automatically charge me for pro since Im a basic user already
Kerr said warriors are limited minutes tonight FYI
When? And where did you read this?
Draymond’s usage doesn’t really go anywhere with or without bogut… but all the other things that create fantasy value raise. According to nbawowy.com draymond with bogut scores 1.05fdppm and without Bogut scores 1.21fdppm.
Fyi
Regarding warriors, the guote i saw was – “Coach Steve Kerr said that he won’t play his key guys more than 35 minutes no matter what the score is” – this is from rotoworld.com. Not sure this qualifies as anything that moves the needle.
Hmm this is an interesting distinction. I put them back at 34 each. Oof.
Big shift towards Cousins, hu? At least the narrative in that game seems to be moving in a positive direction. Cousins supposed to start. It’s the last game in that arena, and supposedly his last game of the year, so why limit him?
Not sure i want to trust that entirely, but something to keep in mind.
Yeah nothing about Boogie projection changed. Just other things shifted to get him there
ESPN update just came on my phone with Steve Kerr saying he is going to limit his players minutes tonight. “The game is not more important than their health.” I’m guessing they won’t play the 4th and part of the game.
System seems to like Korver today, any particular reason why?
Pricing also likes D Rose but not playing him either
Dang it Kerr! Don’t be pop! Lol
As a Warriors fan, 35 min of Steph, Klay and Dray probably means around 11 minutes of 12 for each of the first 3 Quarters, I WOULD TAKE THAT!!! This doesn’t seem like a reason to fade them, especially with Iguoudala back to run the second team so barring foul issues, those three can stay together on the court unlike during Iggy’s injury…
Very true. They can do a lot of damage in 35 minutes
Aminu or Harkless at forward on DK?
Any of the NO guards look good tonight?
Anyone else nervous that Len is in a bunch of the optimal lineups? The dude just makes me nervous.
That crossed my mind too.
Hey how’s this look for a tourney play, that’s all I use the optimal for and seems to cash a good amount of the time.
Pg-frazier
Sg-Wiggins
Sf-babbit
Pf-mirotic
C-horford
F-tucker
G-westbrook
Util-aminu
Also another question is there anyway you guys could start making a tourney optimal lineup and why is it that the optimal lineup on fanduel usually does a little better than dk
Think pricing on DK is tighter why optimal may not do as well
Frye or Portis?
Gonna roll Price, Ennis, T Allen, Portis, KAT, Westbrook, Cousins, Len. Thoughts?
I see a lot of Frazier recommendations floating around. He rolled his ankle 2 games ago and then only played for 26 minutes last night. Any thoughts or news?
Frazier came off the bench last night and still made value….I have him deployed in a lot of my lineups tonight he should be fine
Not sure I understand the why especially if GSW is limiting minutes but rumor is MEM is going to sit some starters.
Very interesting. Was high on Barnes and Allen before this news.
Makes some sense though. Memphis is locked into the playoffs now and nearly all of their key players at this point are in their mid thirties. Just played last night. I understand the move. Trying to figure out now who the beneficiaries are and if they are worth deploying tonight. Might turn into a game to avoid.
Actually i kind of hope this happens now. Could make Lance and Jamychael Green really intriguing.
I think it might be a PACE thing. In looking at it I’d bet the thinking is the Spurs have looked pretty old here lately and play much slower than OKC and GSW. If given the choice of the Spurs, OKC and GSW in the first round maybe the thinking is if they can fall below Dallas they’ll get the Spurs in the first round. Sitting players means avoiding OKC. OKC throttled MEM in two of the three games ( Durant sat in the other game). I’m not sure MEM wants that up and down PACE vs OKC and even though the Spurs are the Spurs they play a more similar brand of Bball to Memphis… and also guys like Duncan and Parker may have a switch for the playoffs but they just looked “old” the night against GSW.
Hey Trey. System doesn’t like Ennis, Allen, or Portis tonight. I also think Westbrook is risky since they have nothing to play for. Might be a risky tourney play but shouldn’t survive a 50/50. Right now it seems to like Rose, Barnes, cousins, and milsap. Hope this helps, I apologize for last night btw
PORTIS fails me all the time
Which high $ guys are musta right now. I can’t figure out where to spend up. Cousins, curry, dray green, towns?
I wish this was an 8 o’clock start across the board. Would make some of this easier to shake out close to tip. I think there are some good enough plays to avoid GS and Okc if we are unsure, then you just have to worry if they get true min/value for whoever plays them. At least we know bos/atl will go all out.
Any rumblings of Pels flip flopping their lineup again anytime soon or we feel get good about starters and rotational min?
Again no hard feeling at all man, sorry for how I reacted we all fam over here! Thanks for the advice man! Cheers.
Hey AP, except for one game with TOR where he only played 24 min, millsap has had a pretty good 2 week stretch.
Stars and Scrubs anyone? Rose, VC (if Memphis sits some guys he could really light it up) Barnes, Milsap, Ajinca, Westbrook, Cousins, Goodwin.
Are Harkelss and Plumlee safe enough for cash? Both look like nice value in a fast pace game.
Millsap put up 40 plus last time the Hawks played Boston at home I stacked him with Teague and horford in a lineup I got my fingers crossed needless to say lol
I like the matchup for all three of those Hawks tonight. Should be good plays. For cash purposes, does it help your floor to stack those guys together? Seems logical that your ceiling would be limited (only so may points to go around) but floor is a little higher (if Millsap struggles, Teague and Horford can step up, etc.). Or is this some bad reasoning?
Not at all Reid I think you might be spot on with that analysis
Got Rubio, Booker and Millsap across the board. I’m looking at Mo Buckets and Henderson as the big tournament fliers today
Chandler getting no love today? Is leuer being back that much of a cut into his minutes? He’s been a beast lately. Pretty juicy match up. Any thoughts?
Why wouldn’t Memphis play their starters in order to possibly steal the 5 spot from Portland? Just wondering what others think.
I’m taking a good hard look at Tyson Chandler. I think he pushes Ajinca around for an easy double double.
Per rotoworld, the rumblings out of Memphis are that they’d rather be healthy for the playoffs than have the 5 seed. And with a roster of mostly mid-thirties dudes, it makes sense. Pretty sure all of them have been a little banged up lately.
To be clear, nothing has been confirmed either way, but i’m keeping a close eye.
You get the 5 spot, you play Cleveland in the second round. You get the 6, don’t face them till the conference championships bro
Sam, Cleveland in eastern conference now pick your poison in west SA or GSW
Memphis is in the west 🙂
last night it was Randolph, Gobert, and Matthews……………………….who will destroy tonights lineup….
Curry
Lillard
Butler
Booker
Ennis
Aminu
Milsap
Cunningham
and/or
Ajinca
we will find out soon
the optimizer is looking rough today, cousins? Why him
The other high priced players are extremely risky with expected minutes. Cousins is too, but it’s his last home game and if he gets 35 minutes then system likes his safety
Rondall:
I stacked millsap, horford, and Teague in one lineup too… Like u said fingers crossed because usually when I play Teague he is awful. Good luck to all.
Leuer a good play for tonight
I went 100% with the systems results. Hoping for a good night. So much Matt Barnes / ajinca makes me barf in my mouth though
Teague / Towns
or
Rose / Cousins
Optemizer likes the latter, but Rose makes me way too nervous.
Don’t like Teague or Rose but would play Teague over Rose
Haha Memphis is in the west, whoops, guess I was thinking about geography.
As a bulls fan rose is a bum, but he’s gonna get his shots up its sickening to watch him play no d, and not what he use to be. Offense needs to run thru Jimmy butler and Pau gasol. Betting mirotic scores big tonight tho
I think Memphis would rather play a slower paced Spurs team. Therefore I think they play starters. I guess we shall see.
Well St Louis Rams played in west and Arizona cardinals played inEEast all those years sometimes geography makes too much sense
I need some news, anybody important sitting tonight, and not sure on Rose, I’ll stick with Westbrook
What do u guys think about aminu vs barnes
Is the free trial for optimizer supposed to be instant?
I don’t see how to access it after you submit
The form.
Barnes or Tucker?
rondo is out
With Bogut out, is Ezeli or Speights the punt play late night??
Chickened out on Barnes, felt bad enough playing Ennis. Running the optimized lineup with Tucker instead of Barnes in my cash games.
Haha and now Tony Allen ruled out, may have been a poor choice on my part.
System likes Teague over Collison at relatively similar price points. Does that sound right? Or should i be moving to Collison now that Rondo is out?
rondo out i wish i would’ve made a lineup on DK sucks on FD with the lineup lock
I feel you brother! See my post below. Money down the drain!
Great…….Rondo rested at the last minute, AGAIN! This is where FD sucks ass. The game is a later start, but because of the Pels/Suns game being a 7pm start, I (and the other 12% that started him) are screwed.
Happens time and time again. Might as well just flush that $25.00 down the toilet. I have no problem losing, as long as all of the guys I started are active, that’s on me. But when I can’t even make a change in my L/U 3 1/2 hours before the game starts, it really pisses me off.
I know it’s happened to all of us, sorry for the vent, I’m just getting tired of this bullshit with FD.
I just saw that Allen was out and I made sure to check my lineup at around 6 30 and he was still listed as active. I guess I have to check the line up 5 minutes before the start time.
Man, those last minute reports out of memphis were maddening. it cant be that hard to get a full starting lineup posted to twitter can it? instead its: tony is sitting….. 5 minutes ….. lance is starting ……. 3 minutes …… vince is starting …… birdman sitting…… 4 minutes after lock we get a lineup.
went with my gut and left jamychael green in there, afraid i’d get burned with a late barnes scratch. Hope this doesnt kill me.
Rubio is only 7% owned on FD right now. Crazy. Also punt play of the night with Bogut out is Mo Buckets!!!! Watch me be wrong now, but if I didn’t say it’d be him, he’d get a soft double double.
Ronnie Price….where are you?
I’m astounded that Rubio is only 8% owned tonight in FanDuel.
Westbrook is 30% owned, and I have no idea why the Thunder would play him tonight and risk injury for a pointless game, when they rested everyone last time out.
I need advice should I take Gasol and Harmless or switch them to Towns and waiters
why in the world would we be so foolish as to think Ajinca is a good enough player to have 2 decent games in a row…….here he goes again ruining a good lineup…….what a loser….anyone else agree?
Foolish no DFS is about finding values at their pricing points. Were we foolish to think Aldrich would put up 21/18 last night or were we just smarter last night
Korver with a solid 1 point at half
haha……………….mr. dependable and consistent….Korver…..what an “allstar” joke
I guess I was foolish…dumb…misguided….I took Gobert instead of Aldrich
Jim:
100% agree on Ajinca… Hate myself for putting him in instead of tucker! Second night in a row I screwed myself by not playing tucker!
thank you Dante C…….for a valiant effort
thank you Milsap……for tonights beast mode
thank you Ajinca……..for your 9.3 weakness
Jim don’t think you’re dumb foolish misguided but can’t just be ajinca screwing your lineup cuz as of right now I’m cashing all my DK triple ups and just outside on FD 50/50 s with lillard cj and Wiggins still yet to go and got ajinca on both sites
Price and ajinca combined for 15.8 and I’m just outside cash on 50/50s on FD with lillard cj and Wiggins yet to go plus couple playing now
And lot of game left but 158 out 5750 in $3 3 entry max with ajinca in lineup so can’t be just him
Besides Rondo, any news coming through on players out, resting, or minutes restrictions for 10:30 games?
I’m having a hell of a time deciding between Rubio/cousins or Lillard/Towns. Does anybody have an opinion?
Rubio burns me every time because he doesn’t score. Took ZERO shots last game. That being said, I won’t pick him… He’ll have a triple double! I don’t trust ANYONE’s minutes tonight.
Agree. I had picked him the last 2 nights. But Korver is killing me tonight. The two quick fouls shut him down early. Which is making me lean Rubio/cousins in the hope for one of Boogie’s monster nights. Ugh! Thank you for your feedback
Boogie kills OKC every time they play. Will just depend on minutes tonight. Portland only team with anything to play for. But that game could get ugly quick. Middle of the season these two games could produce monster FDP!!! Being wary of minutes and injury tonight before playoffs? I have no clue what happens. That’s why we’re here with DFSR!! Trusting the experts on their minutes estimations.
Chad, keep in mind the optimizer is for cash plays. For tournaments you have to remove “safe” guys like Korver and take a flyer on a guy that can get a ton but may end up busted. If I’m not mistaken, optimizer is looking at floor, not ceiling.
john…..I am just outside winning on my entries also….still have aminu and lillard to play…..may still win some money despite ajinca…and he may have got hurt….anybody know?
Jim good luck Barnes and millsap carrying my DK with plumlee left. There points system based on minutes with ajinca coming in at 4 less than projected which he still wouldn’t have hit # but may have put us in better spot
Ajinca did get hurt. Finished with 23 minutes i believe. still not a good production rate.
Good time to mention that Matt Barnes was in all top optimal lineups?
An equally good time to mention that Kyle Korver was also in nearly all top optimal lineups (8 or top 10).
How do you take out safe guys???
Example: Korver likely to get you at least 15-20. Not like to get you 40. Player like Avery Bradley or Seth Curry could score 30 and have some rebounds or assists. Or both could do absolutely nothing
Gotcha! Thank you.
Good time indeed
Got a good lineup going with Barnes and Milsap. I have Cousins/Seth Curry/Harkless coming up. I am a little nervous and thinking of changing them to Rubio/Acy/Towns… Any suggestions?
I’m cash play only. Thank you guys for the help. Thank you Cody
Only my opinion, Chantel……I think you are sitting pretty with your original lineup.
So far so good. 12 in 32 out. Never had such a great outcome. Wish I could do this well in MLB. Optimizer is legit for Basketball.
Busy all day, ran in at 6:50, put in 3 50/50s with top optimal lineup on all, and I’m about to cash 100%. Thanks guys!
Boogie not pulling his weight..
Boogie sucking and Westbrook isn’t exactly ballin either and I got them both.