Welcome to a brand new NBA season. We have a lot of changes this year in terms of where players are however the one thing that never changes are the NBA injuries that happen.
The purpose for this article is to give you an early morning look at the injuries on the upcoming slate and how those players could impact your player pool. The most important thing to remember with this article is that while there is a lot of information here you will want to become a VIP Member for the most update and current information as this article will not change. This will give you access to our Discord channel for the #NBA-Breaking-News and #NBA-Coaches-Notes which will have all the up-to-date information as we get it. Not a member? What are you waiting for?!
A quick reminder here as we roll into the new season with so many changes to rosters some of the usual information such as usage will be difficult to grab. However once we get more games under the belt, this information is going to get much cleaner.
Hawks VS Wizards – 07:00 PM
Hawks: No injury report submitted yet.
Notes: I don’t really have anything to report here until we get the injury report. Just some quick notes on some guys I currently want to target but could change as we get news:
- Trae Young
- John Collins
- Clint Capela – I could potentially see him sitting
- Deandre Hunter
Wizards: No injury report submitted yet.
Notes: Similar situation without any injury news I can only go with what I’m targeting:
- Bradley Beal
- Montrezl Harrell – He is playing with something to prove. Tough matchup but love him if Capela happens to sit.
- Spencer Dinwiddle
Pistons VS 76ers – 07:00 PM
Pistons: Jerami Grant is Questionable.
Notes: We will need to get the Grant news and luckily it’s within the first game of the slate so we should be good. Grant impacts the to Kelly O or not to Kelly O question. I am so confused why it takes Grant to be out for Kelly to get minutes as we all saw how he smashed last week and last season when given the playing time. If Grant is out, I have no issues going with Kelly as a core. The other issue here is it is the Pistons and could easily be a blow out. Don’t avoid plays because of this but it’s hard to find anyone I love on this side. Embid is likely going to eat Isaiah Stewart for breakfast. Don’t play him unless Embid is out. Here are the guys I could target:
- Kelly Olynyk – Core if Grant is out. Deep GPP if Grant plays.
- Killan Hayes
- Saddiq Bey
- Jerami Grant – IF he plays.
76ers: Joel Embid and Shake Milton are Questionable. Grant Riller and Ben Simmons are OUT!
Notes: So, we have seen this news for multiple games in a row here with Embid being questionable. Dude has a knee injury that should have been operated on during the offseason however he held off. He’s played every game he is questionable so very little doubt he plays tonight. However let us play the game of “What IF” here real quick. What if Embid misses? Welp, I am going to go super heavy on Drummond and Harris here as they should both eat without Embid. What if Embid plays? I am going to be very heavy on Embid as no one will really be able to stop him. He will tear Stewart up and make him feel tiny. Tobias Harris makes an okay play but not someone I want to be heavy on. Drummond still makes an interesting play as his price is low and he has a double double potential even in 20 minutes. Lower GPP guy but still. Below are the guys I’ll target.
- Joel Embid – if he plays
- Tobias Harris – core if Embid is out
- Andre Drummond – low GPP guy if Embid plays, Core if Embid is out.
- Tyrese Maxey – Will need to see about Milton however Milton does impact him if he plays
Bulls VS Knicks – 08:00 PM
Bulls: Zach LaVine is Questionable. Colby White are OUT!
Notes: LaVine has a thumb injury that requires some attention. LaVine made it clear he plans on playing through it but he could be a question mark moving forward. If he sits this is a boost to the three other stars of Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. In terms of the backups that come into play here if Lavine misses we would potentially see Alex Caruso come into the starting lineup as well as Ayo Dosunmo could see some additional minutes. If Lavine were to play, I don’t think I would go too much with him as the thumb injury to could have some performance impacts. Below are the guys I want to target:
- DeMar DeRozan – likely a core play for me without LaVine
- Lonzo Ball
- Nikola Vucevic
- Alex Caruso
- Ayo Dosunmo – 5% of less GPP dart.
Knicks: Nerlens Noel is Questionable. Luka Samanic is OUT!
Notes: No major news here unless Nerlens Noel plays which impacts Taj Gibson the most. However, I wouldn’t have a ton of interest in either guy. Julius Randle is my guy in this matchup coming off a turd on a year where he has taken control of this team. I like Derrick Rose off the bench to get some solid run and shots while RJ Barrett/Evan Fournier could make some interesting plays depending on how Julius is doing.
- Julius Randle
- Derrick Rose
- Evan Fournier
- RJ Barrett
Rockets VS Jazz – 08:00 PM
Rockets: Danuel House Jr is OUT!
Notes: Ugh, this could be an ugly matchup however don’t play the blow-out game. We saw it last night with the Lakers VS Thunder. Teams are still trying to find their identity early in the season so we could see some solid performances out of some guys. Jalen Green makes an interesting gpp play as he is shot dependent but if he gets hot, he can make some great shots. Christian Wood has been stellar and Kevin Porter Jr could be good if he stops turning the ball over all the time. If you’re playing potential blowout scenarios Alperen Sengun could be interesting as he could see some additional minutes but as an overall the below guys are the ones I really want to target:
- Kevin Porter Jr – if he can limit his turnovers
- Christian Wood
- Jalen Green
Jazz: Bojan Bogdanovic, Miye Oni and Eric Paschall are Questionable. Rudy Gay is OUT!
Notes: We could see this game get one sided and if it does it’s because the Jazz are running up the score. With that being they would need their scorers to score and dominate so no problem targeting this game. Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley are two guys I could see going off along with Rudy Gobert who is a rebound machine. If he consistently get those rebounds while scoring 15-20 actual points, he could smash his price tag. Similar to the Drummond play I could see going with some Hassan Whiteside as a deeper GPP play which would allow some more room for studs. Below are the guys I want to target:
- Rudy Gobert
- Donovan Mitchell
- Mike Conley
- Hassan Whiteside
- Jordan Clarkson
Mavericks VS Spurs – 8:30 PM
Mavericks: Sterling Brown and Kristaps Porzingis are Questionable.
Notes: It really sucks this game isn’t until 8:30 because it could drastically change the slate if Porzingis is out. Looking at the gamelog Doncic is coming off two rougher games against the Spurs but before that he had 3 straight games above 55 fantasy points. Now that’s just against the Spurs, what if we were to look at how he does without Porzingis? It’s a roller coaster however Doncic had TWO games above 70 fantasy points both of which were without him. Enough about Doncic though, where do we go if we don’t have Porzingis? Who gets those minutes? Maxi Kleber should get an increase in minutes as well as Willie Cauley-Stein likely sees a boost. I actually like Tim Hardaway Jr a lot if Porzingis misses as he likely sees a boost in usage. Below are the guys I want to target:
- Luka Doncic – 37% usage and 1.53 FPM without Porzingis
- Tim Hardaway Jr – 25.3% usage and .96 FPM without Porzingis
- Jalen Brunson
- Maxi Kleber – Only if Porzingis is out.
- Boban Marjanovic – Don’t go crazy here but worth a 5% shot if Porzingis is out.
Spurs: Zach Collins and Doug McDermott are OUT!
Notes: On the flip side of this game we have the Spurs coming off an outstanding OT game against the Lakers where Dejounte Murray was incredible. If you were to look at his game logs vs the Mavericks it’s nothing super impressive aside from his last game against them where he dropped close to 50. Different year, different Murray. He is a guy you can target regularly now as he doesn’t have to fight with DDR for usage. Just a quick preview as I look at last year, without DDR Murray had a usage rate of 23% and a FPM of 1.11 which is higher this year but with less data. The guys that benefit from McDermott being out are the likes of Lonnie Walker and Devin Vassell. Keldon Johnson broke out hearts but no problem going back there this game. Below are the guys I want to target:
- Dejounte Murray – 23% usage but a 1.11 FPM
- Devin Vassell
- Keldon Johnson
- Lonnie Walker
- Jakob Poeltl – has been smashing and always worth some shots.
Warriors VS Grizzlies – 10:00 PM
Warriors: Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and Klay Thompson are OUT!
Notes: No real news here so nothing changes how we play this team. These are the guys I want to target:
- Steph Curry – love a Morant/Curry ping pong
- Jordan Poole
- Draymond Green
- Andrew Wiggins
- Damion Lee
Grizzlies: No injury report as of yet but going to assume Dillon Brooks remains OUT!
Notes: With no injury report yet we can assume Dillon Brooks will still be out here which makes the same guys massive plays again and in a fast pace matchup I love targeting this game. These are the guys I’m going to target:
- Steven Adams – got super handsy last night but who’s going to stop him?
- Desmond Bane
- DeAnthony Melton
- Ja Morant – LOVE
- Jaren Jackson Jr
Just a quick reminder here. Make sure you become a VIP member so you can get access to all of our tools including Discord. This DFS NBA injuries article will not update so it’s best to join-up to not miss updates with new important pivot plays. Good luck to all this year and I look forward to seeing all the new members!