The hot spots where injuries are opening up value and higher usage on Friday’s nine-game slate are in Utah, Milwaukee and Indiana.
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 a plus (+) 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 – Friday, January 11
| Team | Player | Status | If OUT |
| Bucks | Giannis Antetokoumpo | Doubtful | Sterling Brown (minutes) Ersan Ilyasova (minutes/usage)+ Tony Snell (minutes/usage)+ Khris Middleton (usage)+ Eric Bledsoe (usage)+ Malcolm Brogdon (usage)+ |
| Bucks | D.J. Wilson | Doubtful | Ersan Ilyasova (minutes) Sterling Brown (minutes) |
| Bucks | Eric Bledsoe | Questionable | Malcolm Brogdon (minutes/usage)+ George Hill (minutes/usage) Khris Middleton (usage)+ |
| Bulls | Zach LaVine | Probable | Ryan Arcidiacono (minutes) Chandler Hutchison (minutes) Kris Dunn (usage)+ Bobby Portis (usage)+ |
| Cavaliers | Larry Nance Jr. | Out | Ante Zizic (minutes) Channing Frye (minutes) |
| Cavaliers | Rodney Hood | Questionable | Alec Burks (minutes)+ Jordan Clarkson (minutes)+ Channing Frye (usage) |
| Hawks | Tyler Dorsey | Probable | Justin Anderson (minutes) |
| Hornets | Cody Zeller | Out | Willy Hernangomez (minutes) Bismack Biyombo (minutes) Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (usage) |
| Hornets | Devonte Graham | Questionable | Malik Monk (minutes) |
| Jazz | Ricky Rubio | Out | Donovan Mitchell (minutes/usage)+ Kyle Korver (minutes)+ Royce O’Neale (minutes)+ Jae Crowder (usage)+ Joe Ingles (usage)+ |
| Jazz | Dante Exum | Out | Donovan Mitchell (minutes/usage)+ Kyle Korver (minutes)+ Royce O’Neale (minutes)+ Jae Crowder (usage)+ Joe Ingles (usage)+ |
| Jazz | Raul Neto | Out | Donovan Mitchell (minutes/usage)+ Kyle Korver (minutes)+ Royce O’Neale (minutes)+ Jae Crowder (usage)+ Joe Ingles (usage)+ |
| Jazz | Thabo Sefolosha | Out | Kyle Korver (minutes)+ Royce O’Neale (minutes)+ |
| Knicks | Frank Ntilikina | Doubtful | Trey Burke (minutes) |
| Knicks | Enes Kanter | Questionable | Luke Kornet (minutes)+ Mario Hezonja (usage) Trey Burke (usage) Tim Hardaway Jr. (usage) |
| Lakers | None | ||
| Mavericks | Dennis Smith Jr. | Out | Maxi Kleber (minutes/usage)+ Jalen Brunson (minutes) DeAndre Jordan (usage) Harrison Barnes (usage) |
| Mavericks | Dirk Nowitzki | Probable | Maxi Kleber (minutes)+ |
| Nets | Jared Dudley | Out | Rodions Kurucs (minutes) Treveon Graham (minutes) |
| Pacers | Myles Turner | Out | Domantas Sabonis (minutes/usage)+ Kyle O’Quinn (minutes)+ Victor Oladipo (usage)+ Tyreke Evans (usage) |
| Pacers | Darren Collison | Questionable | Cory Joseph (minutes)+ Tyreke Evans (minutes/usage)+ Victor Oladipo (usage)+ |
| Raptors | Danny Green | Probable | Delon Wright (minutes) Norman Powell (minutes/usage) Kyle Lowry (usage) |
| Raptors | CJ Miles | Questionable | Delon Wright (minutes) Norman Powell (minutes) |
| Rockets | None | ||
| Sixers | J.J. Redick | Questionable | Furkan Korkmaz (minutes/usage)+ Landry Shamet (minutes/usage) Jimmy Butler (usage) Joel Embiid (usage) |
| Timberwolves | Robert Covington | Out | Josh Okogie (minutes) Jeff Teague (usage) Andrew Wiggins (usage) |
| Timberwolves | Derrick Rose | Probable | Tyus Jones (minutes/usage) Andrew Wiggins (usage)+ Josh Okogie (usage) |
| Trail Blazers | Moe Harkless | Out | Evan Turner (minutes) Nik Stauskas (minutes/usage) Damian Lillard (usage) Jusuf Nurkic (usage) |
| Trail Blazers | Damian Lillard | Questionable | Seth Curry (minutes/usage) C.J. McCollum (usage)+ Evan Turner (usage) Jake Layman (usage) |
| Warriors | Shaun Livingston | Probable | Quinn Cook (minutes/usage) |
| Wizards | None |
