Minnesota Timberwolves Ricky Rubio of Spain plays in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
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!
He's the only thing they've got resembling a strong 5 at the moment, and should play big minutes against the Wizards here. The more interesting discussion for me is what happens with Nikola Mirotic. We're tentatively slating him for 29 minutes, but I could see scenarios where he plays both more or less. How's that for helpful? I think he's still a useful play against the Wiz.
But we're on back to back awful games from him after his break-out stretch. It's not the worst match-up with the Timberwolves, but it's impossible to call him safe given his uncertain role and erratic play. Still, he makes for a nice big tournament play given the industry malaise surrounding him right now.
Porzingis can only be considered a big tournament play (though he's an intriguing one, to be honest) given what he can do if his minutes break right. Afflalo and Vujacic, meanwhile, are both unplayable in any format on account of them splitting minutes.
Update: Lebron is out. Irving, Love and Shumpert are borderline must plays.
Update: Rajon Rondo out. Collison gets a bump.
He's been out for three games, but he went through a full shoot around on Wednesday, and Hoiberg is "optimistic" that he'll be back here. E'Twaun Moore would likely be the odd man out if he does come back, as the wing/guard spots are starting to get crowded not that Dunleavy and Mirotic are both playing as well. Rose is going to play on a minutes' restriction.
Stephenson looked good during shoot-around for the Grizz on Wednesday, and his return would certainly steer minutes away from some of the zillion combo guards that Memphis is throwing out right there. The safest bet is to just take minutes assumptions from the Hawks game. It stayed relatively close (at least compared to their 50 pt loss to Houston) and was probably a fair indicator of what we'll see here. Still, the situation is a total mess. If Stephenson plays, though, he looks good to me.
Payton missed Tuesday's game, and Brandon Jennings put up a huge night in a spot start for him. If Payton's out again, it stands to reason that Jennings will have the starting role again, in which case he'd probably be an every lineup guy at minimum prices. Meanwhile, Vucevic's absence opened up the door for Jason Smith to pour in 42 fantasy points in 28 minutes on Tuesday, leaving him in big tournament consideration. Smith's performance has been up and down, but he now has some monster games since Vuc went down.
Cole's return would crush the value of Toney Douglas, who has turned in some huge (and some bad) performances as a starter in the New Orleans back court. I don't think Cole will be playable immediately just because his price is based on high 30s minutes, but I'd wait for confirmation on his absence before playing Douglas.
He claimed to have not experienced any soreness after he returned against the Pistons on Monday, but he did miss practice on Tuesday. I'd be cautious even considering him until I get confirmation that he's playing, and frankly, I'm not sure he's worth his prices either way.
These are players that show up in each of the top 10 lineups as produced by our lineup optimizer. This doesn't necessarily mean that they're "safe," it just means that their projected weighted-mean point total is a solid building block for a great lineup foundation today.
Opponent - CHA
FD Proj. Pts - 34.79 DK Proj. Pts - 36.41
Opponent - CHA
FD Proj. Pts - 23.09 DK Proj. Pts - 24.97
This assumes Payton's absence, but it looks totally sensible to me. We gave you Oladipo as an every lineup guy yesterday, and he put up 42 fantasy points against the Nuggets. Jennings almost paid 10x points per dollar on these prices. All systems go for both unless Payton unexpectedly returns.
Opponent - MEM
FD Proj. Pts - 35.1 DK Proj. Pts - 36.13
Another returner to the "every lineup" circle, Rubio is on back to back games with 46 or more fantasy points, and his salary hasn't moved. This game he'll be up against... Briante Weber? Rubio's seeing the floor as well as anyone in the league right now, and he's still 10% below where his price will land if this continues. Love him in any format.
Good luck out there today! If you want access to all of our numbers, get started with a free trial of our lineup optimizer!
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View Comments
What do you think about kemba walker tonight
Seems like a tourney play only to me. It all comes down to projecting out minutes and shots, really. If he shoots 18 shots, as we're projecting, there are simply better plays at the same price point. Of course, he could tear up Jennings or whoever and do well in the lane against Jason Smith, but I don't think he's a favorite for 5x points per dollar tonight.
Kemba Walker is the man tonight. I'm calling it now. Orlando has been piss poor against the PG. I'm also not buying them tonight because this will be their second game in a row with a banged up team. Thinking CHA takes this game. PUNT play of the night....Courtney Lee
This night is a mess right now. Going to wait till 6:30pm to even look at things. Guys like Gibson saying they have a tight hamstring but are going to give it a go and Zinger saying he doesn't feel 100% but plans on playing just make me nervous. Add that to about a dozen guys who may or may not play and it's chaos right now.
No reason to consider Zinger tonight with his question marks, IMO. I'm still all in on Gibson if he's going to play. Hoiberg don't care about no stiff hamstring. There are still other good options, though.
I think I'm rolling with both Rubio and Wiggy tonight. Who on Memphis is going to stop them?? Tony Allen can still defend (although not like he used to) but he'll be on Levine. I don't see Weber or Barnes covering these 2 guys. I've also been riding Kemba and Marvin to victory a lot lately
Solid analysis on Rubio and Wiggins IMO. Love Marvin. Lukewarm on Kemba for reasons stated above.
Why is everyone all over Rubio? I. Thomas has a better matchup.
Because he has back to back huge games and a guy named "Briante" guarding him.. Plus he's cheaper
Our optimizer likes Thomas, and loves him if you think he'll play 38 minutes. Rubio's just 1k cheaper.
Rubio is a stat sheet stuffer man. IT is scoring dependent on comparison and on back to back. Just my two cents.
I see the optimizer is 100% totally in love with Wesley Matthews I think your system has a man crush on him why is that
He's just cheap related to his upside production. You can def X him out if you're looking for safety, though - it's sensible to not shoot for his 8x+ points per dollar upside if you're concerned about his 2x floor.
Matthews is 100% capable of 8-10x all day long. That said he has been super erratic and I won't touch him.
Thoughts on willie cauley stein?
He's a good play if he starts, for sure. Updated the system to reflect the likelihood that he'll start.
When will Beasley make the list? Doing better than many at that price range.m
Yall what do we think about stein if he starts again tonight. Seems like an awsome play to me vs the sorry pelicans. Also 3 straight games with 20 fantasy points at min price.
Will Watson snipe some of Jennings court time?
All depends on who starts, is my guess. Watson was dealing with a little bug, so there's a chance that's why Jennings got the lion's share last night. But he played so well that it's tough for me to imagine them going back to CJ tonight. Stay tuned for news for sure.