NBA DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups, Injuries & More Today: Thursday Playbook
Published: Apr 02, 2026
It's Thursday, April 2nd, and we have a six-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Only the Warriors and Spurs are on the second leg of a back-to-back set. Anthony Edwards, Trey Murphy, and Mark Williams are the notable questionable tags whose status could shake up the slate. If they all play, it is semi-difficult to get up to the elite players like Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on this slate. Stay tuned to see if anything shakes loose as we approach roster lock.
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, April 2nd
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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
UPDATE 6:00 PM ET
- Marcus Sasser - AVAILABLE
- Mark Williams - AVAILABLE
- Anthony Edwards - OUT
UPDATE 4:00 PM ET
- Victor Wembanyama - OUT
- Well, that certainly changes some things. Stephon Castle was already a Core Play and is now a priority option. De'Aaron Fox and Luke Kornet added to Core Plays. More interest in Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Dylan Harper, and Keldon Johnson.
- GSW:
- Seth Curry - Questionable
- De'Anthony Melton - Questionable
- Quinten Post - OUT
- Gui Santos - Questionable
- Karlo Matkovic - OUT
NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 4/2
- MIN:
Anthony Edwards - Out
Jaden McDaniels - Out - DET:
Marcus Sasser - Available
Cade Cunningham - Out
Isaiah Stewart - Out - PHX:
Mark Williams - Questionable
Haywood Highsmith - Out - CHA:
None - LAL:
Marcus Smart - Out - OKC:
Alex Caruso - Questionable
Thomas Sorber - Out - CLE:
Dean Wade - Out
Jaylon Tyson - Out - GSW:
Yet to submit - NOP:
Karlo Matkovic - Out
Trey Murphy - Questionable
Bryce McGowens - Out - POR:
Damian Lillard - Out
Jerami Grant - Out
Shaedon Sharpe - Out
Vit Krejci - Out - SAS:
Yet to submit - LAC:
Bradley Beal - Out
Isaiah Jackson - Out
Yanic Konan Niederhauser - 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
Mid
- Donovan Mitchell, Deni Avdija, James Harden, LaMelo Ball, Julius Randle, LeBron James, Dejounte Murray, Stephon Castle, Zion Williamson, Daniss Jenkins, Kristaps Porzingis, Ayo Dosunmu, De'Aaron Fox, Kon Knueppel, De'Aaron Fox, Scoot Henderson, Naz Reid, Brook Lopez
Value
- Bones Hyland, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper, Sam Merrill, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, Max Strus, Robert Williams, Derik Queen, Luke Kornet
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