Daily Fantasy NBA News and Injury Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/2/17

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

Paul Millsap will come off the bench.
Paul Millsap has missed eight consecutive games, with left knee tightness, but this morning the Hawks upgraded his status to questionable for tonight's game against the Nets. It has just been announced that he will play and come off the bench, but this news is enough for me to avoid Ersan Ilyasova tonight as his production will surely take a hit.

George Hill remains out.
Hill will miss his third straight game Sunday. Raul Neto also remains out so Dante Exum and Shelvin Mack will see the PG minutes for the Jazz.

Seth Curry has been ruled out.
Seth missed the end of the Mavs game against the Grizzlies Friday after aggravating his shoulder, and the team has decided to hold him out through the weekend. Yogi Ferrell would most likely move up to the starter role with Devin Harris and J.J. Barea seeing some additional run.

Marc Gasol remains out, while Vince Carter will rest against the Lakers.
Gasol will miss his fifth straight and Carter, who has been averaging just over 30 minutes per game recently, will get a game off with the playoffs fast approaching. Zach Randolph continues to be a great play with Gasol out, especially against the Lakers league worst interior defense, with James Ennis and Troy Daniels benefiting from Carters absence.

LaMarcus Aldridge is out today with a sprained left thumb.
LMA looks to be day-to-day with this sprain. Danny Green who injured his left thigh Friday against the Thunder will also be held out today as a precaution. Davis Bertans and Kyle Anderson will start in their places. Manu Ginobili will sit out today for rest purposes leading to more minutes for Jonathan Simmons and Kyle Anderson.

Taj Gibson will start for OKC.
Gibson returned to practice yesterday after missing Friday's game due to illness, and has been cleared to return to action for today's tilt with the Hornets.

Robert Covington and Jahlil Okafor have been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
The Sixers announced on Friday they are shutting down their front court studs for the final games due to a miniscus tear in the right knee (Covington) and recurring knee soreness (Okafor). Justin Anderson and Richaun Holmes have proven to be tremendous values in their recent absences and will continue to be through the Sixers final seven contests. It was recently announced Dario Saric will have his minutes clipped to 24 adding to the value of Holmes and Anderson.

Jameer Nelson, Will Barton, and Darrell Arthur are all out for the Nuggets.
Nelson, Barton, and arthur all have various ailments holding them out for today's go against the Heat. Mason Plumlee meanwhile remains questionable. Jamal Murray will start for Nelson and Gary Harris will see his high minute floor increase even more with Barton out again.

Malcolm Brogdon is out for the Bucks.
Brogdon will miss his second consecutive game today with back soreness. Matthew Dellavedova will start in his place against Dallas. Dellavedova doesn't really intrigue much, but it is worth noting that Giannis has seen 41.4 minutes per game in the three previous games Brogdon missed this season.

What We're Waiting to Know

Markieff Morris is questionable for the Wizards tonight.
Morris sprained his right ankle on Friday and is officially listed as questionable for the Wizards game tonight with the Warriors. Jason Smith would be the likely candidate to start if Morris is ruled out, but the chance remains Washington could go small, starting Kelly Oubre at SF and moving Otto Porter to PF. We'll monitor this situation closely.

James Harden is questionable for the Rockets.
Harden has been downgraded to questionable for Houstons game with the Suns after missing shootaround with flu like symptoms. Trevor Ariza has been ruled out already for personal reasons. With the recent wrist injury and Houston being pretty well locked in as the three seed in the west, I wouldn't be surprised to see Harden sit this one out, giving the starting nods to Troy Williams and Sam Dekker.

The "Every Lineup" Guys

Early Only

Zach Randolph
Marc Gasol is going to miss a fifth contest, and with that, Z-Bo becomes a phenomenal play once again. In the four games Gasol has missed so far, Randolph has seen minutes ranging from 25-32, and double doubled twice while slowly increasing his scoring performances from 15 four games ago, to 22 last time out against the Mavericks all the while the price on him really hasn't budged all that much and he has paid 5X twice, while going as far as 7.5X in the other two. Today Memphis heads in to the Staples center for a contest with the Lakers, and while the 7.5 point spread may lend some concern, the Lakers 6th ranked pace factor and leagues worst defense against opposing front courts, far outweighs it. Z-Bo is a go in all formats.
Kemba Walker
The Hornets are still trying to keep their playoff hopes alive, and Kemba Walker is fighting hard to get them there. He refused to sit out the fourth quarter in Fridays game with the Nuggets, despite trailing by 8 at the end of the third, and wound up leading Charlotte to a 122-114 win. Today the Hornets travel into Oklahoma City to face Russ and the Thunder. There's a mere 4.5 point spread on this one and even if it should get out of hand you have to think Walker will continue to fight to stay in the game with the playoffs on the line. His price has dipped a bit over the past couple of weeks, but the performance has been consistent. Over his last 5 he's averaged 27 points, 5.6 assists, and 3 boards. Walker is another guy I will look to have exposure to in all formats.

Main Slate

DeMarcus Cousins
Regardless what side of the revenge game factor you fall on, there is no denying Boogie had fire in his eyes as he took on his former team Friday in a game that New Orleans just crushed Sacramento, 117-89. In 35 minutes, Cousins posted 37 points and snagged 13 boards, adding 4 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals paying nearly 7X per dollar. Tonight the Pelicans hot the Bulls and while Chicago is coming in as one of the tougher than average defenses for opposing centers, Boogie is not your average center. Robin Lopez will be totally outclassed here, and Boogie should have his way with the Chicago front court. the Pelicans are favored by 8 but that's not enough to give me any real blowout concern. Maybe Boogie won't show us the upside he did against the Kings, but for cash purposes, I'm a firm believer.

Sam Dekker
Dekker will start tonight for Houston in place of Trevor Ariza, who is out for personal reasons. With Ariza out and James Harden questionable, the opportunity could be there for Dekker to have a huge game against the Suns. This game is down to a 6.5 spread with a still ridiculously high 228 total, and Dekker who has scored in double figures 15 times this season has shown the ability to put up high scoring performances when given the opportunity. Coming in at a bargain price, Dekker has a high floor and one of the highest ceilings of the night. I'm not hesitating to play him everywhere.

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