Daily Fantasy NBA News and Injury Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 2/9/17 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! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will likely all rest This is obviously huge news. The Cavs were able to sign Derrick Williams to a 10-day contract, so they do have 9 active players. However, not many of them can do very much. Jordan McRae & Channing Frye are my 2 favorites, and they are both tremendous value plays. Channing Frye and Kay Felder also hold a lot of appeal, and I will have exposure in both cash games and tournaments. Tristan Thompson is also a very solid cash game option. Evan Turner is out 4-6 weeks Turner has been playing a solid 30 minutes for the Blazers, and this injury will definitely hurt. Maurice Harkless will join the starting lineup, and he has a lot of upside. He has played over 35 minutes in plenty of games this year and I would expect at least that many tonight. Harkless is a guy I will have exposure to in both cash games and tournaments. Al-Farouq Aminu could also gain a few minutes, and he is always a solid cash game option. Aaron Gordon has been ruled out against the 76ers Gordon was a guy on my radar as a top play tonight, and this news definitely saddened me. However, we definitely have somewhere to look. Jeff Green will pick up 30 minutes, and he will shoot plenty. This match-up is ideal, as the 76ers don't cover perimeter players very well. We will touch more on green in a bit. What We're Waiting to Know Eric Gordon is questionable to play Gordon is a guy who takes a lot of 3's off the bench for the Rockets and is a big part of their success. If Gordon misses this game, Sam Dekker and James Harden should benefit both. Dekker will see a much higher usage, and the minutes will be a lock. As for Harden, it will just give him a couple...

What makes a good NBA DFS "punt" or value play? If you've played NBA DFS for any stretch of time, you've undoubtedly been in the position of trying to evaluate what it means that some relatively unknown (or underplayed) player is joining the starting lineup. Sometimes this happens because a player gets injured, sometimes this happens because a player gets benched or traded, and sometimes it just happens due to a late scratch. But the feeling is the same - it's 20 minutes to lineup lock, and a cheap player is starting for the first time. How do we evaluate whether he's a good play or not? In DFS, players who are very cheap thanks to a big time recent change in opportunity are known as "punt" plays, and it's our job to figure out which of them are worth it, and which are worth passing on. This article will explain what our evaluation process is like when we determine which cheap plays are worth it, and which are worth passing on. Evaluating a player's track record Not all punts are created equally. Let's start our article with two seemingly similar, but very different situations. In January, the Bucks came out and said that Thon Maker was going to get his very first start thanks to Jabari Parker being benched to start the game for disciplinary reasons. Around the same time, in New Orleans, Anthony Davis had been ruled out thanks to (yet another) injury, and Terrence Jones was going to step into the starting line-up. We played Jones everywhere while ignoring the Maker news completely, and were handsomely rewarded. How did we know who was better, and who was worse? Let's dive into the process. Here's the quick set of questions we use to evaluate players when they seem to be moving into greater opportunity. 1) How has a player performed on a points-per-minute basis in the past? 2) How is this player currently used within the context of his team? 3) Do we know how he's performed when given the starting role in the past? 4) Does his team have a lot of other options if he gets off to a slow start? 5) How big a hole is being left by the player the punt is replacing? 6) Will the player's role change when he moves into the starting lineup? 7) Is the player even that cheap? 8) Who am I punting away from? Let's take a look at each of these examples to see what we mean. 1) How has a player performed on a points-per-minute basis in the past? Jones and Maker are very instructive for this example. Terrence Jones has averaged 23 fantasy...

DFSR's Daily Fantasy NBA Podcast for DraftKings and FanDuel Thursday 2/9/17 DFSR’s Doug Norrie and James Davis take a look at a five game NBA slate for FanDuel and DraftKings. The big news here is the Cavs likely sitting their big three in Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. That leaves Cleveland incredibly thin across the board and we could see steady doses of most of the cheap Cavs’ players. This will be the piece of news to monitor as we get closer to lineup lock. After that we can likely safely get big money in on Russell Westbrook and James Harden because the punt situation should be robust. They also talk about the Orlando Magic possibly without Aaron Gordon and how that would effect the Orlando starters. Then they finish off with some NoHalftime challenges. Subscribe to this podcast on...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 2/9/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA optimizer, our NFL Optimizer, and our new NFL player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. What to do with the Cavs? Ty Lue said LeBron, Kyrie and Love will "likely" rest tonight, though he isn't 100% sure yet. I fully expect all 3 of these guys to sit, and there will be a ton of ways to look. With Iman Shumpert already out for a few weeks, the backcourt will be very thin. I expect Jordan McRae to be a playmaker and should be leaned on against the fast-paced Thunder. Kay Felder and Richard Jefferson will also see big minutes, and make very good plays in all formats. While Channing Frye is a lot better with LeBron on the court, he should get enough minutes to produce plenty. In conclusion, Jordan McRae, Kay Felder, Richard Jefferson, and Channing Frye all hold cash game appeal. Everyone else can be played in tournaments, as they will only have 8 active players and everyone has a chance to see big minutes. Point Guard Russell Westbrook FD - $12500 DK - $12700 Opponent - CLE Proj Pts FD - 62.32 DK - 66.17 With news of the big 3 likely sitting for this one, it changes everything. First of all, the Thunder will likely shift to favorites, and the projected total will go down a few points. I don't think it hurts Westbrook too much, though, as the Cavs should still remain competitive. Even without the big 3, I expect some guys to step up and give the Cavs a chance to keep it close going into the 4th. With Irving and Shumpert both out, it will be Kay Felder, DeAndre Liggins and Jordan McRae that will be forced to cover Westbrook, and it could get ugly. Tristan Thompson may be the only guy that stands between Russell Westbrook and a monstrous triple-double. If Westbrook is able to out-battle Thompson for a few boards, Westbrook will have a monster game. This is one of the thinner days of the year at PG, so I could see some ownership being pushed onto Westbrook. He can be used in both cash games and tournaments, across the industry. I personally slightly prefer him to Harden, but love them both. Damian Lillard FD - $8500 DK - $8900 Opponent - BOS Proj Pts FD - 42.11 DK -...

Daily Fantasy NBA News and Injury Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 2/8/17 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! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know DeMarcus Cousins is suspended for 1 game Cousins got his 16th technical against the Bulls, and will now be forced to sit out against the Celtics. This would have been a great match-up for Cousins, who has been phenomenal lately. Instead, we will look elsewhere. Darren Collison, Matt Barnes and Willie Cauley-Stein all have a lot of appeal, and I like them in that order. Tolliver and Lawson also gain some appeal, and I will have some exposure. Danilo Gallinari will miss a few more games Gallinari has missed the last 3 games, and Wilson Chandler has taken advantage. This match-up with the Hawks is fine for Chandler, who should be the focal point of the offense behind Jokic. Jokic could also pick up some shots, and he is always a great tournament option. What We're Waiting to Know Jimmy Butler & Dwyane Wade are both questionable to play Butler is a little less likely to play, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them both sit. If one sits, the other one is a great play. If both end up missing the game, there are a lot of different ways to look. Michael Carter-Williams is at the top of the list, followed by the likes of Rondo and Jerian Grant. This game with the Warriors will be fast paced, so someone will be scoring for the Bulls. You can basically go anywhere in tournaments if both of these guys are out. Thaddeus Young is questionable to play Thad has been out for the last 2 games, and Lavoy Allen came through once. He will see big minutes again and could hit value at a very cheap price. Myles Turner will also see a secure 32 minutes. He is a great option in all formats whether Thad plays or not. The "Every Lineup" Guys John Wall We looked at both of these guys in the main picks article, and they are still...