Free Player Lab TrialBasketball Picks Daily Fantasy Expert Advice
Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/3/16
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
Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young shut down for the season
The Nets are in complete tank mode and have decided to rest their 2 best players for the remainder of the season. Brook Lopez and Thad Young play key roles in this offense and will open up some huge opportunity for guys like Thomas Robinson and Henry Sims. Robinson and Sims will take over the starting backcourt and will play around 30 minutes per night. Both of these guys have proved their worth when given time and I expect no different tonight. The Pelicans have an abysmal defense and these guys should be able to hit value and possibly exceed it in 30 minutes.
Brandon Knight is out
Knight has been nagged by injuries all season long and is currently dealing with a sports hernia. He has been announced as out for this game and could be held out for the rest of the season. Ronnie Price is the direct beneficiary here as he will get around 30 minutes at point guard. Devin Booker also benefits as the ball will be in his hands more often which will lead to a higher usage %. Last game, Booker shot 6-22 with a usage $ over 30. I am not necessarily enthused to use any of these guys in a very tough match up with the Utah Jazz.
Jose Calderon is out
Jose Calderon is a player that opens up a lot of opportunities when out. Jerian Grant immediately steps into a big role and needs to be on your radar. Grant stepped into the starting lineup last game and had no problem getting his shot off. He has plenty of upside as a point guard that can rebound and play defense well above average. Carmelo and the other Knicks veterans have encouraged the young players to shoot and be active on offense. That tells me his shots and minutes are very safe. I look for Grant to get around 30 minutes in this one and be a terrific option.
What We're Waiting to Know
Will Kristaps Porzingis play?
Porzingis has missed the previous 2 games and it is not looking to good for him to return today. The Knicks have nothing to play for and therefore no reason to force Porzingis back. Derrick Williams has picked up 35 and 24 minutes in the previous 2 games KP missed. I am expecting him to be around 35 minutes in this one against a Pacers team that throws out plenty of big men.
Derrick Favors is questionable
Favors is questionable with knee soreness and it is a true toss-up whether or not he plays. The Jazz are in a tie for 8th place in the West and every game is huge from here on out. If Favors is able to play, he will. If Favors is unable to play, Trey Lyles immediately steps into a huge role and is in a great spot to succeed. Lyles played 35 minutes last game and ended up with over 30 fantasy points and 16 shot attempts. Lyles will step into a situation where he will play over 30 minutes against a team that struggles against athletic forwards.
Will Derrick Rose give it a go?
D-Rose and the Bulls are in a tough spot right now and basically have to win out to have a chance at making the playoffs. The Bulls are coming off a tough loss to the Pistons which may force Rose to play when he is not actually ready to come back. If rose is out, E'Twaun Moore and Aaron Brooks will likely split minutes at point guard and Moore will grab a few at shooting guard. Jimmy Butler is the main beneficiary and will be a very good play. Butler had a triple double last night and the best game of his career. I am slightly worried about Butler being fatigued but with the Bulls needing to win he will force himself to get involved.
Deron Williams and Raymond Felton are questionable
The Dallas Mavericks backcourt is a mess right now and is something that is going to have a huge impact on this slate. We need to look at this from a few different angles. If one of these guys play, I am interested in them and J.J. Barea. If both play, I am not going to touch any of the Mavs guards. If both Williams and Felton miss this game, J.J. Barea is a must play and Devin Harris is a great tournament play. In this scenario, Barea is locked into 35 minutes and 15 shots with a ceiling much higher. The match-up with the Timberwolves is a good one as the game will be fast paced and have plenty of peripheral stats up for grabs.
Is Norris Cole finally going to return?
Norris Cole has missed the previous 12 games with a nagging back injury that may end his year. The latest word from coach Gentry is that it is "more and more likely" that Cole will miss the remainder of the season. If Cole happens to make a surprise comeback here, you can expect Tim Frazier and Toney Douglas to take a hit in the minutes and production column.
The "Every Lineup" Guys
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.
James Harden
Opponent - OKC
FD Proj. Pts - 53.76 DK Proj. Pts - 56.87
James Harden and the Rockets will be facing off with the Thunder in game the Rockets need to win. The Rockets are currently on the outside looking into the playoffs, although only 1 game back. Harden will play around 40 minutes in this game and will have a usage % over 35. Harden has averaged over 50 DK points against the Thunder and over 60 this season. Harden is my favorite player to pay up for as you can be certain he will get the minutes and shots. Harden has 60 fantasy points in 4 of his last 10 and I think he gets there once again.
Derrick Williams
Opponent - IND
FD Proj. Pts - 24.28 DK Proj. Pts - 25.59
Make sure Kristaps Porzingis is out, as mentioned above. Williams is in a spot here where he will be the second option on offense against a team that struggles against physical power forwards. Williams will be able to hit value easily and will likely exceed 6x. I am comfortable with Williams in all formats as he has a safe floor and a huge ceiling when considering his price.
J.J. Barea
Opponent - MIN
FD Proj. Pts - 29.99 DK Proj. Pts - 31.39
Barea is a must play if Deron Williams and Raymond Felton is out, which is looking likely. Barea has 30 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 and 40 in 2 of those. You can expect 35 minutes and over 15 shots that will likely be wide open. The Timberwolves play at a fast pace which will give Barea plenty of opportunities to rack up fantasy points in plenty of different ways.
Stephen Curry
Opponent - POR
FD Proj. Pts - 49.98 DK Proj. Pts - 52.23
Stephen Curry is going to come out with vengeance after being taken down the Celtics last time out. Curry had a horrible game and wants to prove to everyone that he has gone nowhere. The Warriors are still aiming for the all-time win record and should be able to get an easy win here against the Blazers. Curry is going to come out firing early and often.
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!
113 Visitor Comments
Post a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Your 04/03/16 link goes to a 3/20/16 post !!!!
Wil optimizer continue to update until the evening games lock, or will the updates stop when the afternoon games lock? Thanks!
It update all day, all games until they are all locked.
Been updating the beast all day!
Every lineup hit at least 310 last night. Broke even but I’ll take that on a funk Saturday night. Spreading my lineups across lockup times today. I think the optimizer has a huge advantage in those types of sets
Optimizer hit 348.8 last night. Cleaned house.
great night and great pivot off of Mirotic
any idea why draft kings doesn’t currently allow anyone to play the nets vs pelicans? i mean i know they are both disgusting but some fun cheap plays there.
The NBA shouldn’t allow those two teams to play!
I am guessing it has to do with the huge time disparity between the first and second game. It definitely takes away some great value plays though. I would move onto guys like Derrick Williams and Trey Lyles in place of the Nets value.
Is anyone else nervous about Butler and fatigue? Just got back from injury makes me not have him in more lineups. I like Middleton and the few dollars as a pivot. Have a feeling by game time so will optimizer
As mentioned above, I am definitely a little bit worried about Butler being fatigued. He looked a bit tired at the end of the game yesterday. However, the Bulls are in must win mode and Butler is their only chance. I expect him to tough it out and play close to 40 minutes again. Personally, I am not a fan of Middleton as he will likely be guarded by Butler.
Just posted an update on the Nets situation.
I was so confused why this article kept talking about the Nets and Pelicans until I saw the comments talking about when the game started.
For the early slate is there any good, cheap options I can roll with in order to get Westbrook, Harden and Lebron all on my team? Because I don’t see anyone I like that I think would be worthwhile.
Thomas Robinson and Henry Sims are great value plays. Kilpatrick, Frazier, Hamilton and Larkin are very interesting as well.
Thanks Again DFSR scored 340.8 on fanduel thanks to Jimmy Buckets won my Quintuple ups and cashed in my tourneys. Keep it up, this injury and updates page is the best tool there is out there anywhere!
All day on FanDuel should be interesting. Lot of nice plays that could sit so risky but should be some good plays/points if everyone plays.
No Opitimizer yet, but doing great since using projections and playing around with my own lineups (I usually make a couple gut calls….eg., fading Mitotic across the board last night). That’s where watching games can really help. Some of us know he’s a pure tease, just when you think he’s the man, he will let you down 😉
Question for everyone who plays on Fanduel……
I’ve noticed most of you guys play the double ups. What is the avg total pts you need to make the double up?
I usually play just tourneys but thinking about switching my game plan for nfl season.
Top half of the contenders double up….
Thoughts on Cody Zeller with Big Al now questionable?
And thoughts on CJ Miles as a punt, or was last night just a fluke?
Cody Zeller is fine, but I still prefer Trey Lyles, Derrick Williams. I would stay far away from Miles. Let others chase the points.
Not being able to play the nets / pels on DK is killing my punt situation. May end up with more Derrick Williams and Jerian Grant than i bargained for.
Kyrie questionable!
As a Celtics fan I want Nets to be in tank mode as they have their 1st rd pick for next 3 years only next years is lottery protected
Where are the line up picks for today?
It’s on the main page but the date is wrong 🙂
https://www.dailyfantasysportsrankings.com/2016/04/02/daily-fantasy-nba-basketball-picks-for-fanduel-and-draftkings-4216-2/
I am the worst. Changed all that now!
Im a die hard Laker fan so maybe I am biased, but shouldn’t Kobe and Bass get more love for the game against Boston? Bass will play well above his ceiling against Celtics, and I believe Kobe has been focused on this last Boston game all month. I think he is going play until his shoulder falls off on this one. Also, a good game for everyone to come together and forget the off court BS and support his last game against the most hated Celts.
Bass is not someone I am interested in with all the other great options at power forward. He severely lacks upside and has a very low floor. Kobe is a fine GPP play but I would not touch him with a 10 foot pole in cash.
Kyrie OUT
Delly starting for CLE
Ended up playing a few entries for all day slate. Couldn’t pass up pels/nets options. Had to fade williams in a few though in case zinger surprises.
Reid, as a hornets fan, zeller can be a complete crap shoot. I think he’ll get you rebounds , but scoring is a toss up. If big AL is out he’s an interesting play though the hornets don’t hesitate to give Hawes and Hansborough run
Thank you!
Any thoughts on Blake griffin as a GPP?
Big Al OUT
Lots of cavs in the optimal for 3:30 slate…
Deliciously!
Any thoughts on Speights as punt with Bogut iffy?
Speights is tempting. I’m doing a 25$ gpp for giggles. So I’m being extra cautious on it. And I can’t get a lineup I like using towns. I don’t trust zaza in this one particular gpp. Leaves me with towns and Lin at sg. Thoughts on Lin ?
I should mention it’s the 3:30 only slate
Very limited exposure to the 3:30 gpps so think I’m going to take a flier on Zeller. Allows me to get out of JR Smith 🙂 DOnt JR and not a fan of stacking 4 guys.
Yea. I wasn’t either. Hate to disagree with the optimizer so much on this. But I’m just not rolling with 4 cavs on a big money gpp. Looks like it’s Lin or bust. Almost as nauseating. Lesser of two evils.
Yep…on the same page with you guys. No JR for me either. It’s kind of weird rolling with a cash lineup and no Westbrook. 🙂
Having a hard time stomaching that many cavs, especially smith and dellavedova. Maybe that’s because I dony like them much. Like kemba now that in this spot.
What do you guys think of Ariza today?
I had Aries in but went with optimizer and Jeff green.
Ariza
Anyone see if Felton is out?
Not playing a NET the rest of the season. Obvious watching the game today they kept their back-ups in long enough so they had no chance to win the game. Backups were a CRAZY -110. If that’s the strategy guys like TRob and Larkin just aren;t going to get minutes in mid 30s like you would assume they would.
Ahhhhhh “love” the late news 😉 Felton upgraded to probable/available.
Of course.
I hit 361 points last night ( never has happen before)…I would have won 1st place if Gerald Green would have should up…..You guys have great predictions! Cant wait till NFL arrives! I’m going all in! lol
Ended up mixing it WAY up for 3:30. Good luck to everyone.
Delly
Westbrook
Harden
Beal
James
Green
Zeller
Ibaka
ZaZa
I think Mirotic is a great tourney play today. He’s a classic tease, just when you expect him to go off he disappoints. And when you expect nothing, he goes off! After last night’s disaster, he will be low ownership, and could put up a huge game. I think a great contrarian play is to fade Butler and play Mirotic. Also covers you in case Chicago is tired and blowout in 4th Q.
Mirotic is tied to Gibson. Most people faded Mirotic last night when late news was Gibson would play. I’d imagine people will be back on Mirotic tonight since Gibson is already listed as doubtful.
Good luck in the 330 slate. See you guys in a few hours for the 6pm.
Who u guys like/playing for the 6pm slate? Any thoughts on draymond green or Giannis Antetokounmpo?
The Greek Freak? or Paul George?
Anyone else having a problem accessing DK the last hour?
Been having problems all day with app but not site
Curry
Lilliard
Butler
Dipo
Fournier
Miles
Johnson (Bos)
Williams
Gasol or Vooch
Dipo ? right now
For anyone playing FantasyAces…current projections have Derrick Favors, Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Zinger, all OUT
G S.Curry 48.79 7,550.00
G J.Butler 38.78 5,800.00
G I.Thomas 35.85 5,750.00
F J.Parker 27.69 4,800.00
F D.Williams 16.98 3,600.00
F T.Lyles 13.60 3,300.00
C P.Gasol 40.84 6,000.00
Util C.McCollum 30.31 5,200.00
Util J.Grant 10.99 3,000.00
Also…it looks like Butler will rotate between Middleton/Greek Freak depending on who has the hot hand with E’Twan Moore on the other (both have great length to guard the 2 bucks primary scorers) so it favors Portis/Mirotic vs Parker. Dunleavy/McBuckets to defend whatever body Kidd puts at the “point” position (Ennis maybe today???)
Harkless and H. Barnes, instead of Lyles and Grant for me, otherwise it’s the exact same LU. * Favors is active btw.
Favors playing. That hurting Hayward?
I don’t know if It makes Hayward a non play but it definitely doesn’t help his production in my opinion
Batum Hurt knee will not return…
Been using daily fantasy nerd optimizer. Awful!! Have always come here for articles and comment section for research and finally joined today. Already making money!! The folks here truly care about everyone winning. Even the commenters!! Glad I joined so far. Keep it up guys. Doing big money games tonight!!
Favors return dings Hayward and Hood slightly, but still love both.
Anybody playing the main slate that can suggest a lineup?
Article says oladipo will play and start
Oladipo questionable…
Would hate to miss on a 2nd great night from butler since he was so good last night. Any thoughts on McCollum instead or Butler just too much of a must play with rose and Gibson likely out.
Bulls drive me crazy. Rose now listed as doubtful but will warm up and be GTD.
Agreed. Gibson definitely out…shocked to see Rose might play.
Melo OUT….
Optimizer not updating for the main!
Optimizer needs to be named the bankroll builder…and as it sits today the optimizer has my Baseball team sitting pretty!
Even with Jeff Green giving me 1, I’m sitting in 5th on a GPP for the 330 slate. Kudos optimizer….starting out well in baseball too. Let’s keep this thing rolling on the main slate as well
finalized roster for FantasyAces tonight w/ Melo out, Gibson out, Favors IN, assuming Rose sits…
G J.Grant 10.99 3,000.00
G J.Butler 38.78 5,800.00
G S.Curry 48.79 7,550.00
F D.Williams 16.98 3,600.00
F J.Parker 27.69 4,800.00
F Z.Randolph 30.35 5,300.00
C K.Seraphin 9.12 3,000.00
Util P.Gasol 40.84 6,000.00
Util I.Thomas 35.85 5,750.00
good luck tonight all!
Thought we’d get a lot more movement with Melo sitting but looks like optimizer not impressed…
Good luck to everyone tonight!
Yeah it just hated Cleanthony Early, and the needle didn’t move enough on some of the other guys to move away from the “clear” big money plays (in the optimizer’s eyes). So we were left with seemingly the best play at every position tonight. Which seems good 🙂
Good luck tonight DFSR family! Derek rose better sit!
Agreed Thomas. I ended up taking a diff line up to get Grant in.
The 330 slate made me bank I didn’t trust the late opti but I can’t doubt these guys
BTW, props guys on the 330 games optimizers. Tool has been on point last few days sifting through this mess
Bogus out why has it not updated
Bogut
How did I miss middleton being named out? Was it announced prior to tip off?
No Tyson Chandler, no cash type of night? Thank you DFSR optimizer. Never would’ve thought to play Chandler against Utah
Opt on point! Liking it! Do work
354 on afternoon slate, nice work guys, awesome as always!
Main Slate NBA is straight SMASHING!!! GREAT work DFSR team! Like always!
Jeez, tonight was just a huge night over this way. If Curry and Lillard keep this up it could be a scary good one.
Hope you guys are down wind of it as well!
LMAO how does the optimizer get Lillard, Gordon, and Chandler right? Shredding more cash games and doing pretty will in GPP too. This thing is like having the answer key before the test.
Totally screwed with Middleton out of 3 of my lineups that are otherwise strong. I went to dinner at 5:45 EST and no word at all regarding Middleton not playing….does anyone know when and where it was announced??
5:53 PM I first saw it.
https://basketballmonster.com/statusupdates.aspx
Pretty sure it happened after 6; I had him in a few lineups too. I don’t know how a guy can go from not even being on the injury report to missing the game with an injury.
I know right?! Pretty frustrating when the other lineup(s) that he is rostered on have a shot to cash were it not for his zero…
We didn’t get it until after 6 unfortunately. The Bucks didn’t confirm until right before tip.
Full disclosure btw – the optimizer won’t ALWAYS feel like the answer key before the test. But we certainly do whatever we can to make it that way as frequently as possible, and the last week or so has really been a hell of a run!
Solid night tonight with the opt. Thanks
Haha yeah nothing will be right all the time. I’m sure it will be wrong a lot less than I’ve been on my own though. Thank you all for putting this together!
So did williams get hurt? Trying to figure out why seraphin got the 4th qu run
Not sure they really want to win. One thing to give Seraphin a little run but no Williams in the 4th doesn’t make sense at all.
Thanks James and you are right…I just checked via the Bucks PR Twitter account and it wasn’t announced until 6:55 pm so with Fanduel we couldn’t have changed it even if we wanted to…I think us DFS players need to hit Fanduel hard to start allowing lineup changes for players whose games have yet to start.
Great night tonight!
The interface on fan duel just is so much more user friendly I can’t make the switch to draft kings , and could this laker game end already people are catching us on the opti lol
Agree. It’s like OSX vs Win95… 🙂 having said that seems MUCH easier to win over there. Only been on DraftKings for about week or so and seem to hit every gpp.
No NBA tomorrow 🙁
Hey guys! I just freakin won first place on a 25 cent game! $100…..you guys helped a lot……kobe scored my last winning points! I’m eating bbq tomorrow! And of course playing gain!
Nice!!!!! I bought myself little bottles of champagne to pop each time I win 🙂
Man. Scored 358 in two tournaments and several in the 330’s and still didn’t break even. Getting to where you have to score almost 400 to win a big payback.