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

It's Saturday, January 17th, and we have a 7-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and eight games on FanDuel. 

There is a bunch of injury news to monitor, with Indiana and Boston already announcing some impactful news. Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, Tyler Herro, and Stephon Castle are just a few other names whose status we need clarity on before making final roster decisions. 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, January 17th

Be sure to like and subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel!

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

7:15 PM ET UPDATE

• Rudy Gobert - OUT 

7:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Stephon Castle - AVAILABLE
• Cade Cunningham - AVAILABLE
• Ausar Thompson - AVAILABLE
• Paul Reed - AVAILABLE 

6:30 PM ET UPDATE

• Dyson Daniels - OUT
• Jalen Brunson - OUT
• Josh Hart - OUT
• Isaiah Jackson - AVAILABLE
• Devin Booker - AVAILABLE
• Nikola Jovic - OUT 
• Tyler Herro - OUT 

5:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Deni Avdija - OUT
• Jerami Grant - Probable
• Jrue Holiday - Probable
• Jaxson Hayes - OUT 
• Moussa Diabate - OUT 

2:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Devin Booker attended shootaround 
• Josh Hart - Questionable (downgrade) 
• Nikola Jovic - Questionable (downgrade) 
• Paul Reed - Probable (upgrade)
• Payton Pritchard - OUT
• Andrew Nembhard - OUT
• Aaron Nesmith - OUT
• Pascal Siakam - OUT
• T.J. McConnell - OUT
• Isaiah Jackson - Questionable
• Anthony Edwards - AVAILABLE
• Rudy Gobert - Questionable 

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 1/17

• BOS:
  Payton Pritchard - Doubtful
  Jayson Tatum - Out
• ATL:
  Dyson Daniels - Questionable
  Kristaps Porzingis - Out
  Zaccharie Risacher - Out
• IND:
  Yet to submit
• DET:
  Cade Cunningham - Probable
  Ausar Thompson - Probable
  Paul Reed - Questionable
• PHX:
  Devin Booker - Questionable
  Jamaree Bouyea - Out
  Jalen Green - Out
• NYK:
  Jalen Brunson - Questionable
• OKC:
  Isaiah Hartenstein - Out
  Nikola Topic - Out
  Thomas Sorber - Out
• MIA:
  Tyler Herro - Questionable
  Jaime Jaquez. - Out
  Davion Mitchell - Out
• MIN:
  Yet to submit
• SAS:
  Stephon Castle - Questionable
  Devin Vassell - Out
• CHA:
  Moussa Diabate - Questionable
  Mason Plumlee - Out
• GSW:
  Gui Santos - Out
  Seth Curry - Out
• WAS:
  Yet to submit
• DEN:
  Jamal Murray - Probable
  Aaron Gordon - Probable
  Bruce Brown - Probable
  Christian Braun - Out
  Cameron Johnson - Out
  Nikola Jokic - Out
  Jonas Valanciunas - Out
• LAL:
  Deandre Ayton - Questionable
  Jaxson Hayes - Questionable
  Luka Doncic - Out
  Austin Reaves - Out
• POR:
  Deni Avdija - Doubtful
  Jerami Grant - Questionable
  Jrue Holiday - Questionable
  Scoot Henderson - Out
  Damian Lillard - Out
  Kris Murray - Out
  Matisse Thybulle - Out
  Blake Wesley - Out

h/t @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, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Johnson, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brown, Victor Wembanyama, LeBron James (FD)   

Mid

• Karl-Anthony Towns, Peyton Watson, Onyeka Okongwu, Bam Adebayo, Aaron Gordon, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Grayson Allen, Deandre Ayton (FD), Jake LaRavia (FD), Miles McBride  

Value

• Anfernee Simons, Justin Champagnie, Jay Huff, Mitchell Robinson, Sam Hauser, Jarace Walker, Johnny Furphy, Quenton Jackson, Ben Sheppard

Stacks

{{stack.team.name}}	{{player.name}}
DraftKings	{{player.fantasy.price.value[8]}}-
Fanduel	{{player.fantasy.price.value[6]}}-