Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins (15) drives the ball past Houston Rockets' Joey Dorsey in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 1, 2015, in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
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!
George Karl came out and said that Cousins wouldn't play anymore road games. The thought process behind it? The Kings want to lose. No other reason to make such a weird stipulation about his playing time. Plus tonight Rondo gets a little R&R. It's fine, this is the NBA after all and teams are incentivized to lose which makes late season DFS such a struggle. Tonight the Kings will play short-handed and I expect to see a ton of Rudy Gay, Darren Collison, Seth Curry and possibly Kosta Koufos is Willie Cauley-Stein can't go. This is one of those slates where it would have been nice to have Boogie because there really aren't many upper tier guys to spend up on.
He sat out last night and this "doubtful" tag comes awfully early in the day which I think spells him sitting tonight. Gerald Green drew the start at the two last night and went nuts from the field, scoring 30 points. Don't expect a similar performance simply because he's incredibly unlikely to run that hot from three again. But the minutes should be there and he's coming cheap. This is a tough slate to fully spend money so I'm not calling him a must play. I do like the usage increase Goran Dragic typically sees with Wade off the court though.
They are both doubtful right now and I would bet they both sit. If they are out then both Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic become just about must plays. Both of their usage rate tic up with Derrick and Taj off the court. I'd have them as must plays (see below).
There's been rumblings about this for some time now, though they haven't pulled the trigger on sitting anyone major. You could see it tonight with either Lowry or Derozan getting some rest. If that was the case then the other one would instantly jump to the top of the value list on such a short slate. You are going to be looking for places to spend and I'd play whoever was looking at the most shots in Toronto.
Opponent - DET
FD Proj. Pts - 43.15 DK Proj. Pts - 44.52
He's a great play if Rose is in the lineup tonight. He's a must play if Rose is out. Butler gets, by far, the biggest usage bump on the Bulls when he's without Rose. He ends up becoming a de facto point guard of sorts for the team and they run the offense through him completely. Again, I'd play him even if Rose played because of the minutes. But if he's the man in Chicago he should be a 100% start.
Opponent - DET
FD Proj. Pts - 30.03 DK Proj. Pts - 32.4
This is assuming Taj Gibson doesn't play. Don't get caught up in Bobby Portis starting (like I and many others did last game) as Mirotic is part of the unit Hoiberg wants to run for major minutes because they can space the court effectively. Mirotic's range opens things up from the four and allows Butler to penetrate as well as a pick and roll game with Gasol.
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.
Good luck out there today! If you want access to all of our numbers, get started with a free trial below of our lineup optimizer, on us!
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View Comments
Alright! Looking forward to a solid night. Optimizer do work!
Using DFSR player ratings in my own spreadsheet (since FantasyAces not supported)
G J.Butler 37.41 5,800.00
G G.Dragic 29.44 5,150.00
G E.Mudiay 26.14 4,900.00
F P.George 39.43 6,400.00
F N.Mirotic 21.24 4,500.00
F T.Harris 26.51 4,850.00
C I.Mahinmi 23.30 4,350.00
Util Mc.Morris 25.24 4,500.00
Util D.Collison 22.94 4,450.00
Please note that using this technique I scored 328.00 on FantasyAces last night, and cashed 5/6 days so far this week (Wednesday was the exception). This lineup is pending Rose/Gibson being ruled OUT and Wade being ruled OUT. System seems to like George/Mahinmi since Indiana still has playoff positioning to play for and the 6ers have been able to at least be somewhat competitive.
hey how could i get in touch with you? for business regarding DFS do you have twitter?
@dailyfantasysr on Twitter or dailyfantasysr@gmail.com
Optimizer is on fire. 63rd and 73rd last night out of 11,000
Haven't been using optimizer, but love the player projections. Really helps me understand value. Everyone forgot about an oldy but a goodie last night in Wesley Mathews. 1% owned last night for a guy who plays 35+ minutes with updside. When Felton was out, sealed the deal for me. Would have been a big night if not for Len's fouling issues
Korver was a steal last night.... Risk but at .3% owned and 20.3 points, I'll take it.... Love the consistent quality you folks put out... Looking forward to MLB!! Keep up the great work...
Anyone trust faried tonight?
like I trust an escort to not give me an STD...
LOL! agreed
Seems into be to risky for me.
Gasol or Drummond? Or both?
Butler and Mirotic provide better value for Chicago while Harris and Morris provide better value for Detroit. Drummond struggles against centers that pull him away from the paint. You will see Gasol a lot in the pick and roll with Butler tonight sans Rose. Gasol has also been known to run the Bulls offense away from the basket and pick up a good number of assists. In short...Gasol if you want to play a center in that game that's safe but Butler and Mirotic have high ceilings at a discount.
So what other player would you recommend today in the Center position?
I think you have to lean heavy on Bulls, Pistons, Pacers and Blazers. They're basically the only teams playing for anything tonight and their games are the only ones with a single digit point spread.
I think you meant Bulls, Pistons, Heat and Blazers, right? Indy almost a 12pt fave..
Fully expect as the day winds on to get a long list of guys resting tonight and/or odd guys starting coming off the bench.
$$$BOOM$$$ Optimizer crushed again last night!
Very good night. Agreed.