Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 2/3/16

Day #2 of our daily updates article! The response was so overwhelmingly positive that we're dedicated to bringing this piece to you every day where it's feasible. 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!

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.

What We Know

Kemba Walker is out
Huge, huge news here. Walker has played some of the most minutes per game of any player in basketball in 2016, and was 2nd in the NBA in time of possession per game in the month of January (per SportVU data). This means two things: Jeremy Lin will get a zillion minutes, and Troy Daniels will get increased run. Lin's usage climbs from 22.6 for the year to 27 with Kemba off the court, and the Hornets might also be without Nicolas Batum. I'm prepared for Lin to do anything here, but I'm also prepared for the Cavs to tear the Hornets apart. As for Daniels - he's flashed a shooting stroke, but it's a big tourney play only as it's tough to predict exactly how he'll be used.

Ian Mahinmi is out again
Super important news today, given how the other big men have played in his absence. Jordan Hill remains a tremendous value even as his price inches upward, and Myles Turner's price remains in joke territory from where I'm sitting.

Deron Williams is out
JJ Barea averaged 30 minutes, and Ray Felton averaged 33 minutes in Williams' last two missed games. Both flashed big time upside with Williams missing, and while it's not a great match-up with the slow-paced Miami, I'd consider playing either today. I prefer Barea on FanDuel, just because he's cheaper and should enjoy lots of run as the primary ball handler.

Tim Duncan is out again
Unfortunately, this really hasn't changed things much in Spurs territory. Kyle Anderson has had a couple of interesting games, but he doesn't really have the upside to play him in big tourneys, and isn't safe enough for 50/50s. David West has been playing minutes, but is a non-factor at his current prices.

Cody Zeller is back
This means the Spencer Hawes days are over for me (especially against Cleveland), and we can likely expect Marvin Williams to give a few minutes back as well.

Darrell Arthur is out
It's sort of unclear as to how this will really change things in Denver, but Arthur's 18-20 minutes will mean something to some players there. I'm bumping Jokic's minutes (in spite of his slight shoulder woes), Faried's minutes slightly, and spreading the rest between Joffrey Lauvergne and Jusuf Nurkic (figuring they won't really make a huge difference for fantasy purposes).

What We’re Waiting to Know

What's up with Rondo and Cousins
Cousins apparently looked decent in shoot-around, but the Kings might wind up being cautious and sitting him here. Willie Cauley-Stein was a chalk play in Cousins' last absence, but had trouble staying on the court after a nice first quarter. The Kings seem to prefer Koufos (more of a true 5) at center than Stein, and he seems like the primary big-man beneficiary if Cousins is out again. He played 30 minutes against the Bucks and was good on his current prices.

Rudy Gay has been the big winner with Cousins off the floor this year - his usage climbs from 22 to 27 with Boogie out.

If Rondo sits, Collison is a heavy favorite to pay value and then some on very heavy minutes since the Kings really lack another good point guard option.

Hassan Whiteside's status
Amar'e Stoudemire is listed in the starting lineup right now, but the Heat are sometimes tricky with that kind of thing. Follow this closely leading up to game time, as Stoudemire has to be considered cash-game safe based on his recent run with the big man on the shelf. Whiteside's returning would also negatively impact Justise Winslow & Luol Deng.

Tyreke Evans' status
He's very likely out, but he may not be. If he sits again, Norris Cole and Bryce Desean-Jones retain their value, while Jrue Holiday has demonstrated himself to be a very volatile commodity coming off the bench in this fashion.

Ben Mclemore's status, and how that effects Bellinelli
Marco Belinelli played 36 minutes in Mclemore's absence against the Bucks, and was a phenomenal play on these prices. What's a little less clear is - how is his role different if Mclemore's out but Boogie is back? Mclemore only shoots 6 times per game, and Marco jumped from 9.5 to 15 shots in his absence. But can we count on him getting all those shots going forward, instead of say Omri Casspi getting more of those looks? I'd still say he's a pretty safe play if he's starting again, though.

The "every lineup" guys

Another new feature, where I'll share the fundamental building blocks of our lineups tonight, per optimal lineups from our projection system (powered by LineUp Lab.).

Quick note - our FanDuel and DraftKings lineups are very different today. Pay close attention to the price differences there, especially on huge slates like this.

Jeremy Lin shows up in every lineup on both sites.

Jordan Hill is all over the place in a great match-up with Brooklyn's lousy front court defense.

Russell Westbrook is a much better play on FanDuel, where his big price tag doesn't impact price flexibility nearly as much as it does on DK.

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