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

It's Thursday, January 22nd, and we have a 6-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and only five games on FanDuel. 

We have an interesting six game slate on DraftKings and five games on FanDuel. There are stars everywhere we turn as Victor Wembanyama, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxey, and Anthony Edwards take the floor. We have three games on the main slate with at least 235 implied points. Some of the biggest news items we're looking at today is Keyonte George, Paul George, and Josh Giddey.

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 22nd

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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

• Franz Wagner & Jalen Suggs are OUT
• Without them this year: Paolo Banchero - 28.7% USG, 1.17 FP/min // Anthony Black - 26% USG, 1.07 FP/min // Desmond Bane - 26.5% USG, 1.01 FP/min
• Interesting note; the last four games Wagner missed, Noah Penda played 27+ minutes and saw a ceiling of 38 during that span. I expect Tristan da Silva to start, but could be Penda.

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 1/22

• Nikola Jokic - OUT
• Jamal Murray - IN
• Anthony Davis - OUT
• Joel Embiid - IN
• Lauri Markkanen - OUT
• Trae Young - OUT
• Keyonte George - QUEST
• Josh Giddey - IN (limited)
• Aaron Gordon - IN
• Jalen Suggs - OUT
• Paul George - IN
• Jonas Valanciunas - IN (limited)
• Cameron Johnson - OUT
• Brice Sensabaugh - QUEST
• Devin Vassell - OUT
• Bilal Coulibaly - OUT
• Christian Braun - OUT
• Tim Hardaway - IN
• Daniel Gafford - OUT
• Steven Adams - OUT
• Khris Middleton - IN (upgrade)
• Moussa Cisse - IN
• Marvin Bagley - OUT
• Luke Kornet - OUT
• Grant Williams - OUT
• Patrick Williams - IN
• Gary Payton - IN
• Tristan Vukcevic - OUT
• Julius Randle - IN
• Franz Wagner - OUT
• LaMelo Ball - IN
• Brandon Miller - IN

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

• Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, Alperen Sengun, Paolo Banchero, Stephen Curry

Mid

• Julius Randle, Jusuf Nurkic, Desmond Bane, Anthony Black, De'Aaron Fox, Alex Sarr, Brandon Miller, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Draymond Green, Ace Bailey, Bub Carrington

Value

• Keldon Johnson, Justin Champagnie, Khris Middleton, Tre Johnson, Al Horford, Dylan Harper, Noah Penda, Tristan da Silva, Jonas Valanciunas (FD)

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