Daily Fantasy Basketball Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 2/5/16

We're back with our daily updates article! We'll give you what you need to know for tonight's NBA slate, and try to update this piece right up until line-ups lock 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

Urgent: Carmelo Anthony is out tonight: Kristaps, Afflalo and Galloway all get bumps.

Ian Mahinmi is still out
All systems go on Jordan Hill and Myles Turner, once again. It's just a case of price/opportunity mismatch, here. The match-up doesn't really weigh into it that much, though the Hawks have been much worse against centers than they have against power forwards, from a fantasy perspective.

Hassan Whiteside will come off the bench again
But he's still around. This meant a slight decline in minutes for Bosh, Winslow, and Deng last time around, and it killed Stoudemire's value. I'm sticking with the assumption that this will happen again, and I'm also not considering Whiteside here.

Jimmy Butler is playing
At least according to him. Butler missed last game, and E'Twaun Moore put up a monster 24/5/4 with 2 steals in 39 minutes against the Kings. Still, Moore has been starting at the 3 even with Butler playing, and he's dirt cheap. I'll still be considering him even with Butler back.

Deron Williams is back
Byebye JJ Barea and Ray Felton. Definitely not playing Williams here, though.

Jose Calderon hasn't really cut into Langston Galloway's minutes
It's not really safe enough to place a wager on. Or rather, engage in a game of skill where you select him. Or something. But Galloway is sort of an attractive big tournament option while the Knicks figure out exactly what's going on there. If we get the word that Galloway is starting again, I'm very bullish on him at current levels.

Marco Belinelli wasn't effected by Ben McLemore's return
I have more confident in this one than I do with Langston Galloway. Belinelli was great in 36 minutes against the Bulls, and he's got a terrific match-up with Joe Johnson tonight. Just boosted his minutes, which should show up in the projection system now.

J.R. Smith will likely get Dellavedova's minutes again
He played 37 and 42 in the Cavs' last two games, and Mo Williams only played 11 when Delly missed the last one. With Dellavedova out again, I'm giving Smith a slight uptick here.

What We’re Waiting to Know

Pau Gasol Status
Gasol's absence would likely mean Taj Gibson would slide into his role (logging heavy, heavy minutes at the 5) and Bobby Portis would log 32-35 minutes as well on a minimum salary. The Bulls have also experimented with putt Doug McDermott into small ball lineups, but he hasn't been very effective on a points per minute basis this year.

Kemba Walker's Status
It looks like he's going to play right now, but if he sits again, Jeremy Lin slides right back into must-play status. One never knows with knee injuries, so I'll be scouring the web for updates here until I hear something definitive.

Matt Barnes's status
This will great affect the playability of guys like Tony Allen and Jeff Green, who logged just 27 minutes each in Barnes' last game. Barnes went through shootaround, and chances seem to be high that he'll at least give it a go against the Knicks. If he doesn't, I'll consider Tony Allen again.

Jae Crowder's status
After hurting his shin on Monday, he rolled his ankle on Wednesday, and he missed shootaround today. With his status up in the air, we need to monitor this pretty closely. If he can't go, Evan Turner becomes very interesting at punt level prices, even against LeBron.

The "every lineup" guys

We've been banging the projections through our optimizer (which will be publicly available right after the All-Star break, btw!), and here are some guys that are showing up in all of the top lineups.

Robert Covington - a universal play against the fasted paced Wiz and the hobbled Otto Porter on FanDuel, but not on DraftKings where he's considerably more expensive.

Kyrie Irving is showing up everywhere against the fast paced Cs. His minutes have finally returned to form, and the Cavs will want this one.

Boogie. All the Boogie against the Nets, who have been brutal against Centers this year.

Marco Belinelli, assuming he's starting again and we don't get word that the Kings want to get Mclemore more involved again (and I mean, why would they?).

That's it for me - let's chat it up in the comments as usual!

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