Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James holds the ball away from Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas during the second quarter of a NBA basketball game in Boston Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
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!
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.
This news is mostly important not so much for Teague for discouraging anyone from playing Dennis Schroder. Last game Teague played limited minutes because of a wrist injury. That opened the door form Schroder time who played 40 minutes (game went to double OT) and put up a 25/10/8 line. Don't be fooled by that performance. The minutes won't be there tonight with news that Teague is going to play his typical run.
Sam Mitchell may not know what he's doing as a coach, but at least every other game we can somewhat count on Lavine's presence in the starting lineup. The plan to switch on and off between Lavine and Prince in the starting lineup is a totally ridiculous one of course. Good teams (or really any teams) just don't use this as a practice, but Mitchell is a bad coach so you have that. If you think Lavine is anywhere near 33 minutes in this one then he's nearly an automatic play at a weaker shooting guard position.
This one has major implications and these are the situations that can sometimes wreak havoc on projection systems. Right now we are somewhat forced to project as if Wade is both playing and not playing at the same time. I'm cautiously optimistic we will know before lineup lock whether Wade will play as the game starts at 7:30. Though there's always the dreaded "he's going to go through warmups and see how it feels" scenario which could throw things off. If Wade were out then Dragic and Deng become near must plays in cash games. On the flip side, if Wade was given a clean bill of health for this game then I think he's actually a nice value play with Bosh out. See what I mean about it being tough. The number one thing to hope for is solid news well ahead of lock.
This one is less about the big man and more about Draymond Green. The latter ran 38 minutes last game when Bogut sat and would probably be in line for a similar amount tonight if the Warriors shifted him to the five and went small again. Green would make a very attractive play in the highest projected total game on the slate. He's in play either way but if Bogut sat I'd really like him. It's an 8PM start so we might not know before lineup lock.
Note - this doesn't mean I'll actually play each of these guys in every lineup, it just means they are the foundational pieces spit out by our optimizer in all of the top 5-10 lineups. Obviously, you'll want to go against the chalk plays in big tournaments.
I'm tempted to wait on this until a bit later in the day as the optimal lineups are all over the place right now. There is too much news still to come in and we have a cluster of value giving the lineups a lot of diversity from one iteration to the next. I'll update this later in the day, but like I said before, if Wade sits then Dragic and Deng are all over this thing.
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View Comments
Hey guys! If George Hill were to sit, does that make Monta and interesting play at all? Also, would you give any consideration to Joe Young as a possible punt play?
I think Monta is a really good play, not only with Hill as a Q but also because Miles & Stuckey are both basically out. Ball will be in his hands A LOT. I have him in some lineups.
How much do you truck Kyle Kor in cash game line ups?
I'm not rostering Kyle Korver so he should do great today Vito.. LOL
I'm building my lineups with the assumption that D-Wade is back tonight. That team is so much different when he is on the court since he has the ball so much--I'm fading Dragic and Deng completely. It's a shame because those two have been out of control awesome since the ASB. We'll see if it comes back to haunt me.
I agree with this. Dragic and Deng get big usage bumps down with Wade on the court.
Waiting on so much news hard to get cracking on lineups. Does Chandler play? Irving? Bogut? Wade? Lot of guys who swing things in a complete different direction if they play vs sit.
If D wade plays, don't that make Dragic a must play too or no? Also with CP3 playing tonight, should I fade Stephen Curry or he's still the better play?
No, I don't think Dragic is nearly as good a play with Wade on the court. Dragic is a ball dominant guard when he's fully running the offense. This isn't the case with Wade on the court and it's why they really aren't a good match. I'm worried about CP3 because of the blowout risk.
Chandler out!
I'm sorry, Chandler DOUBTFUL.
Derek.. I'm sure everyone has an opinion on the Heat but to me if Wade plays it changes everything. They've been playing at such a fantastic PACE with him on the bench average 114.5 points. When he plays with his usage rate it takes away from other guys and he also changes the style of play so instead of uptempo they slog into a half court offense meaning few touches. They are basically a 90+ point team when Wade plays and Wade will get a bunch of shots. Deng would still be in play ( barely because his price has crept up) but I'm not playing Dragic if Wade plays
Waiting for information big time today. Pistons - Cavs -> Tolliver was injured so Tobias should get the start. Stanley got his minutes pinched. I normally don't play big guys against the Cavs. I am considering Tobias. On the Cavs side, Mo williams is out and kyrie is ? channing frye has the physical thing going on, iman shumpert is ill so this backcourt is VERY thin if kyrie is out. If no kyrie, I like Lebron and Love. I also like Tristan if detroit plays tobias @ the 4. Im with Casey on the Heat - Pacer game. We need to know whats up with wade. I am heavily considering Ian Mahinmi though. Toronto - NY kyle lowry and demar derozan - I think there are better plays personally - wont be targeting the players against the NY front court. I do like Melo but if no Kyrie i like Lebron better. The Boston and Twolves line is super high however its tricky because Boston really spreads out their minutes and they are on a back to back. Im looking at Isiah Thomas and maybe Jae. On minnesota side I like KAT, zach and wiggins *** The Warriors and Hawks has a super high total. I like Curry and Klay, maybe Dray. If Bogut is out I may play Milllsap. One of my favorite games of the night is the Bucks and Lakers because the lakers are the lakers and the bucks have such a nicely defined 8 man rotation with the players getting big minutes. Jabari, Middleton, and Giannis. !!! On the Laker side, since D'Angelo was named a starter, I like him and maybe even Clarkson. The clips and suns has such a huge spread that I'm on the fence. Alex Len and or Mirza but oh lord the line makes this a very hard decision. I wrote a book sorry, just my process today.
Pretty spot on summary, Will. I am using Tobias tonight out of sheer volume of minutes and SVG loves him. On the IND/MIA game, I'm on Monta Ellis (same things as Tobias, volume of minutes and he'll have the ball in his hands a bunch). I'm pretty much fading TOR/NY completely aside from Zingis. Pretty much the same guys you mention for BOS/MIN, except I'm using Turner over Crowder and I may take the flyer on Gorgui--other than his last game he's been a stud lately. LAL/MIN--don't sleep on MCW either. LAC/PHO--might throw a flier out there for Booker and I'm using Len; Crawford will be a staple but I don't have any other space built in lineups for Clippers. The Vegas line frightens me too.
Love talking this stuff with y'all and sharing insights...let's make DFSR readers the cream of the Daily Fantasy Basketball crop. Someone take home a GPP tonight!
I meant LAL/MIL when talking about MCW, obviously. My bust.