The NBA is back! Not many impactful injuries to watch with the first day of the post All-Star break schedule featuring a six-game slate. Not too much news over the break except for some lineup changes in Chicago and some starters returning to the lineup for the Magic.
This article will attempt to list all of the relevant injury situations to monitor for the day’s NBA slate and provide guidance on which players will benefit with either an increase in minutes or usage or both if that player is ruled out. I will also place an asterisk (*) by players that I think are worth DFS consideration if that player is ruled out. Players that have been out for at least five consecutive games I will not list as general playing time and usage patterns should be established.
This will NOT be an interactive article that is continually updated throughout the day as I hope to capture all of the potential relevant injury situations that could impact DFS lineups for the night and pre-determine what players benefit. Ideally, you monitor late-breaking news leading up to tipoff, find out a player is ruled out and come check the matrix below to see who the players are you should consider for your DFS lineups based on that news.
NBA What If – Thursday, February 22
| Team | Player | Status | If OUT |
| Bulls | Robin Lopez | Benched | Cristiano Felicio (minutes)* Noah Vonleh (minutes) Zach LaVine (usage)* Denzel Valentine (usage) |
| Bulls | Justin Holiday | Benched | David Nwaba (minutes)* Bobby Portis (usage)* Denzel Valentine (usage) |
| Bulls | Jerian Grant | Benched | Cameron Payne (minutes) |
| Bulls | Cameron Payne | Probable | Jerian Grant (minutes) |
| Bulls | Kris Dunn | Probable | Jerian Grant (minutes) |
| Cavaliers | None | ||
| Clippers | Avery Bradley | Questionable | Austin Rivers (minutes)* Lou Williams (minutes)* |
| Hornets | Malik Monk | Doubtful | Treveon Graham (minutes) |
| Kings | Frank Mason | Probable | Garrett Temple (minutes) |
| Kings | Skal Labissiere | Probable | Zach Randolph (minutes/usage) Kosta Koufos (minutes) |
| Kings | De’Aaron Fox | Questionable | Garrett Temple (minutes/usage)* Frank Mason (minutes) Bogdan Bogdanovic (usage) |
| Knicks | Michael Beasley | Probable | Lance Thomas (minutes) Kyle O’Quinn (minutes) Luke Kornet (minutes/usage) Emmanual Mudiay (usage)* |
| Magic | Aaron Gordon | Probable | Mario Hezonja (minutes/usage)* Marreese Speights (minutes/usage) Jonathan Simmons (usage) |
| Magic | Nikola Vucevic | Probable | Bismack Biyombo (minutes) Khem Birch (minutes) |
| Nets | Caris LeVert | Out | Allen Crabbe (minutes/usage)* D’Angelo Russell (minutes)* |
| Nets | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | Out | Quincy Acy (minutes) Spencer Dinwiddie (usage)* Joe Harris (usage) |
| Nets | Jahlil Okafor | Questionable | Jarrett Allen (minutes) D’Angelo Russell (usage)* |
| Sixers | Justin Anderson | Out | Marco Belinelli (minutes) |
| Sixers | Joel Embiid | Probable | Richaun Holmes (minutes)* Amir Johnson (minutes) Dario Saric (usage)* Robert Covington (usage) JJ Redick (usage) Ben Simmons (usage)* |
| Thunder | Alex Abrines | Probable | Terrance Ferguson (minutes) Raymond Felton (minutes) |
| Warriors | Patrick McCaw | Out | Nick Young (minutes) |
| Warriors | Jordan Bell | Out | Kevon Looney (minutes) Omri Casspi (minutes) |
| Wizards | Tim Frazier | Probable | Tomas Satoransky (minutes)* Jodie Meeks (minutes) |
