Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 3/12/16

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

Nikola Vucevic will NOT play
He's sat out the last three games due to a groin injury but has already been confirmed as NOT playing tonight. I'm hesitant to run him out there in lineups tonight as I'd be shocked if he saw the upper tier of minutes. But it does take a guy like Dwayne Dedmon out of the mix. UPDATE: I misread this piece of news the first time around. With Vuce out, Dwayne Dedmon is a solid play on DraftKings. Will update this shortly. 

Bradley Beal will play
This is one of those pieces of news that while nice to have, doesn't move the needle for me really one way or another. The Wiz are a tough team to trust from a fantasy perspective and having Beal back only waters down the minutes and usage across the board.

Dwayne Wade is out
Gerald Green has historically been the biggest beneficiary when Wade sits, but he played just 3 minutes in a Heat blowout in their last game, so it's not totally clear what will happen here. Josh Richardson got the biggest minutes boost (32 minutes) in their last contest, and I suspect we'll see a good deal of him here as well. Wade's absence also means a necessary increase in usage for Dragic, Deng, and Whiteside - someone's got to use the 30% of shots that Wade normally uses.

What We're Waiting to Know

Will Zach Randolph play?
He's another one who's sat the last three games and in that time JaMychal Green's become somewhat of a DFS darling. The price on the latter climbed significantly in a short period of time simply because dude went full on beast mode in averaging an 18/11 while in the starting role. It's rare to see the sites (especially FanDuel) price correct so quickly but they had to with Green. Amazingly he's still a solid play if he's getting the start, though he falls more as an average value now instead of an insane one. UPDATE: Z-Bo is out. Green should see a lot of minutes again tonight. 

Who's Playing for the Sixers?
Robert Covington and Jerami Grant were injured last night on the same play when the former inadvertently kicked the latter. Covington left on a stretcher and both were treated for concussions. I doubt either plays tonight simply as a precaution leaving a lot of 3-4 minutes to guys like Hollis Thompson and Carl Landry. Both are coming at or near the minimums and if both were starting I'd call both of them excellent punt plays. Landry is particularly intriguing on DraftKings where, if starting, he would be the top overall pts/$ play. UPDATE: The Sixers have announced their starters as Smith, Stauskas, Thompson, Landry and Noel. As stated, Landry and Thompson are real solid punt plays. 

Will Norris Cole play?
This news also has significant ramifications for lineups. If he sat again you can pencil Jrue Holiday and Toney Douglas in for major minutes again. Holiday's seen a price climb thanks to a fantastic run of games though I'd still put him in play tonight simply because of how much he's on the ball in the offense. Douglas is coming cheap and running 30+ minutes with Cole out of the lineup making a solid punt play on a night potentially full of them.

Will Elfrid Payton play?
Man there are a lot of unknowns tonight. Payton sat out last night with an elbow injury. C.J. Watson drew the start and ran 34 minutes. Scott Skiles is a fickle dude, but I'd pencil C.J. in for that kind of run again if Elfrid sat. Watson was effective with a 10/5/3 line that pays the day at his basement salary.

The "Every Lineup" Guys

James Harden - FD 11000 DK 10600
Opponent - CHA
FD Proj. Pts - 51.89 DK Proj. Pts - 54.96
Anthony Davis - FD 10300 DK 9800
Opponent - MIL
FD Proj. Pts - 52.86 DK Proj. Pts - 53.67
These guys are in every lineup on both sites. And it makes a lot of sense. They both are coming in at the highest raw points on a night potentially full of punt plays. Almost no matter which way the news tide turns these guys will be in everything our optimal lineups spit out. There are just too many cheap options that working in both of their salaries is no big thing. Both have high minutes expectations and the salaries are easy to fit.

Jerryd Bayless - FD 4200 DK 4500
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 26.34 DK Proj. Pts - 27.51
Oof. I don't want it to be the case after his disappearing act last game. But the system loves Bayless coming into this game as basically the only guy able to run the point for the Bucks. He plays off the ball a lot with Giannis running the offense sometimes, but Bayless' minutes expectation is through the roof at real low salaries. He might not end up everywhere but he's facing one of the worst defenses in the Pelicans and should se ample run. But yeah, it doesn't feel great.
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