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

Published: Jan 09, 2026

It's Friday, January 9th, and we have a 7-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel.

The Thunder have already ruled out both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren and the Thunder are going to be short-handed, which opens up the floodgates of value. That's what we have with the Thunder. That will allow us to spend up on the likes of Jalen Johnson, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and Kawhi Leonard.

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, January 9th

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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

Adding Sandro Mamukelashvili to player pool.
Adding Onyeka Okongwu to player pool (close to core play if Kristaps Porzingis is ruled out)
With Scottie Barnes & RJ Barrett out, I really love both RJ Barrett & Immanuel Quickley. Second options include: Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Murray-Boyles (wouldn't play CMB & Mamu together)
I'm perfectly fine if you play Branden Carlson & Kenrich Williams together
Adding Isaiah Joe & Luguentz Dort to player pool because position stinks (SG)
Adding Tre Johnson to player pool (starting at PG)

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 1/9

Nikola Jokic - OUT
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - OUT
Kawhi Leonard - IN
Jamal Murray - QUEST (downgrade, ankle/illness)
Joel Embiid - IN
Trae Young - OUT
Michael Porter - IN
Franz Wagner - OUT
Scottie Barnes - OUT
Brandon Ingram - OUT
Chet Holmgren - OUT
Ja Morant - OUT
Jalen Green - OUT
Josh Hart - OUT
Trey Murphy - IN
Jalen Suggs - OUT
Zach Edey - OUT
Aaron Gordon - PROB
Dejounte Murray - OUT
CJ McCollum - OUT
Cedric Coward - IN
Saddiq Bey - OUT
Isaiah Hartenstein - OUT
Christian Braun - PROB
Spencer Jones - DOUBT (downgrade, ankle/illness)
Jakob Poeltl - OUT
Vince Williams - IN
Bruce Brown - PROB
Herbert Jones - OUT
Corey Kispert - OUT
Cason Wallace - OUT
Jaylin Williams - OUT
Alex Caruso - IN
Jose Alvarado - OUT
Guerschon Yabusele - QUEST (downgrade, quad)
Kristaps Porzingis - OUT
Tristan da Silva - OUT
Zaccharie Risacher - OUT

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.

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