NBA DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups, Injuries & More Today: Friday Playbook

It's Friday, December 12th, and we have a six-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and a seven-gamer on FanDuel.

As always, injury news will play an important role in shaping the slate. LaMelo Ball is the biggest name already ruled out, while Tyrese Maxey and Anthony Edwards (FD only) are two huge names that could shake up the landscape if they were to be ruled out. Ja Morant also has a chance to return after missing nearly a month. Let's break it all down. 

Before actually diving into the meat and potatoes, welcome to the NBA DFS season. If this is your first time reading our column on NBA DFS picks, I just want to welcome you and give you a few tips and tricks on what you should be looking for each night.

• News outlets: reliable sources that give us injury news & starting lineups
• Pace of play: who's playing fast vs. who's playing slow. Which teams get a pace-up spot (more possessions) vs. pace-down (fewer possessions)
• Usage rates: is a percentage of how many plays that player is being used in
• NBA DFS Projections
• Lineup Generator
• NBA Ownership

NBA DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, December 12th

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Pre/Post-Lock Update Section

This section will be used for anything that changes from the morning until right up to roster lock. 

Injury updates, players we’re higher on than we were in the morning and so much more.

All status updates after contest roster lock will be made in the Fantasy Alarm Discord: https://discord.gg/2yATJxXe8G

6:40 PM ET UPDATE

• Ja Morant - AVAILABLE 
• Joel Embiid - AVAILABLE 
• Zach Collins - AVAILABLE 
• Quenton Jackson - AVAILABLE 

6:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Coby White - AVAILABLE
• Isaac Okoro - AVAILABLE (20-minute restriction) 
• Tre Jones - AVAILABLE (24-minute restriction)
• Jalen Smith - AVAILABLE

5:30 PM ET UPDATE

• Anthony Edwards - OUT 
  • Impactful news for the FD slate. Julius Randle is a strong spend-up at a loaded PF position, and Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels are core plays in the mid-range. 
• Tyrese Maxey - OUT
  • Joel Embiid and Paul George are huge priorities, and VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes are core value plays.  
• Moussa Diabate - Available 

2:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Ja Morant - Probable (upgrade) 
• Moussa Diabate - Probable (upgrade) 
• D'Angelo Russell - Questionable (downgrade) 
• Malaki Branham - OUT 

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/12

• ATL:
  Kristaps Porzingis - Out
  Trae Young - Out
  N’Faly Dante - Out
  Jacob Toppin - Out
• DET:
  Isaac Jones - Out
• CHI:
  Coby White - Probable
  Tre Jones - Probable
  Jalen Smith - Probable
  Isaac Okoro - Probable
  Zach Collins - Probable
  Ayo Dosunmu - Out
  Kevin Huerter - Out
  Noa Essengue - Out
• CHA:
  Moussa Diabate - Questionable
  LaMelo Ball - Out
  Tre Mann - Out
  Collin Sexton - Out
  Pat Connaughton - Out
  Grant Williams - Out
• CLE:
  Jarrett Allen - Out
  Sam Merrill - Out
  Larry Nance - Out
  Max Strus - Out
• WAS:
  Malaki Branham - Questionable
  Khris Middleton - Out
  Alex Sarr - Out
  Bilal Coulibaly - Out
  Corey Kispert - Out
• IND:
  Quenton Jackson - Questionable
  Ben Sheppard - Out
  Aaron Nesmith - Out
  Obi Toppin - Out
  Kam Jones - Out
  Tyrese Haliburton - Out
• PHI:
  Tyrese Maxey - Questionable
  Joel Embiid - Probable
  Kelly Oubre - Out
  Trendon Watford - Out
• UTA:
  Georges Niang - Out
  Walker Kessler - Out
• MEM:
  Ja Morant - Questionable
  Zach Edey - Out
  John Konchar - Out
  Javon Small - Out
  Ty Jerome - Out
  Scotty Pippen Jr. - Out
  Brandon Clarke - Out
• BKN:
  Cam Thomas - Out
  Haywood Highsmith - Out
• DAL:
  Daniel Gafford - Doubtful
  Dereck Lively - Out
  Kyrie Irving - Out
  Dante Exum - Out
• MIN:
  Anthony Edwards - Questionable
  Mike Conley - Out
• GSW:
  Trayce Jackson-Davis - Probable
  Draymond Green - Out
  Al Horford - Out

ht/ @UnderdogNBA 

NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews

In the section below, I’m listing the most notable things we need to look at in Las Vegas, including notable O/U and spreads. Not every game is listed, but every game listed has the pace and defensive numbers listed.

NBA DFS Core Player Pool & Lineup Picks

Here are the core players I’m looking at for my NBA DFS picks tonight. You can see the full analysis of tonight’s NBA DFS projections and player pool below or skip ahead to building the best lineups possible by locking these into the aforementioned lineup generator now.

High

• Cade Cunningham, Jalen Johnson, Donovan Mitchell, Josh Giddey, Anthony Davis

Mid

• Evan Mobley, Michael Porter, Julius Randle (FD), Miles Bridges, Joel Embiid, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Darius Garland, Paul George, Santi Aldama, Naz Reid (FD), Jaden McDaniels (FD), Quentin Grimes, VJ Edgecombe 

Value

• Ace Bailey, KJ Simpson, Justin Champagnie, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Jock Landale 

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