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

Happy Saturday, January 25th! We have a nine-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and an eight-gamer over on FanDuel. The Wizards-Suns clash at 9:00 ET is the game FanDuel left off its main slate. 

We have plenty of ways to spend our available salary cap, with stars like Anthony Davis, LaMelo Ball, Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyrese Maxey, Scottie Barnes, and many more taking the floor. LeBron James, Ja Morant, Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and De'Aaron Fox headline the injury report. 

Let's dive in and discuss top plays, best pivots, and much more!

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 25th

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Pre-Lock Update

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.

UPDATE 5:50 ET

• Dejounte Murray - OUT
  • Jose Alvarado is an excellent value play and Jordan Hawkins is playable. Bumps for CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson as well. 
• Jalen Suggs - Available
• Cole Anthony - Available
• Goga Bitadze - OUT
• Trae Young - Available
• De'Andre Hunter - OUT
  • Vit Krejci and Bogdan Bogdanovic are viable salary savers
  • Whoever starts alongside Young, Daniels, Krejci, Okongwu will be as well (David Roddy?)

UPDATE 6:40 ET

• Ayo Dosunmu - Available 
• De'Aaron Fox - Available
• Taj Gibson will start for Mark Williams. I still prefer Moussa Diabate. 
• Jordan Hawkins will start for Dejounte Murray. 
• Evan Mobley - Available
• Caris LeVert - OUT

UPDATE 6:55 ET

• Rui Hachimura - OUT
• Josh Hart - Available

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 1/25

• Dejounte Murray - OUT
• Mark Williams - OUT
• Cody Martin - OUT
• Jalen Suggs - A
• Cole Anthony - A
• Goga Bitadze - OUT
• Gary Harris - OUT
• Immanuel Quickley - OUT
• Kelly Olynyk - OUT
• Ochai Agbaji - OUT
• Trae Young - A
• Jalen Johnson - OUT
• De'Andre Hunter - OUT
• Zaccharie Risacher - OUT
• De'Aaron Fox - A
• Evan Mobley - A
• Caris LeVert - OUT
• Isaac Okoro - OUT
• Dean Wade - OUT
• Josh Hart - Q
• Joel Embiid - OUT
• Andre Drummond - OUT
• Caleb Martin - OUT
• Coby White - OUT
• Ayo Dosunmu - A
• John Collins - OUT
• Jordan Clarkson - OUT
• Cody Williams - OUT
• LeBron James - Q
• Rui Hachimura - Q
• Draymond Green - OUT
• Jonathan Kuminga - OUT

NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews

With the NBA season just kicking off we don't have data yet for teams regarding pace of play and defensive matchups. 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.

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Charlotte Hornets

• Total: 230.5
• Spread: NOP -2

Sacramento Kings vs. New York Knicks

• Total: 231.5
• Spread: NYK -4.5

Toronto Raptors vs. Atlanta Hawks

• Total: 234
• Spread: ATL -4.5

Utah Jazz vs. Memphis Grizzlies

• Total: 246
• Spread: MEM -11

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls 

• Total: 230.5
• Spread: CHI -4

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

• Anthony Davis, LaMelo Ball, LeBron James (if active), Karl-Anthony Towns, Kevin Durant (DK only), Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker (DK only) 

Mid

• Paul George, Nikola Vucevic, Jaren Jackson, Miles Bridges, Jordan Poole (DK only), Onyeka Okongwu, Jakob Poeltl, Kelly Oubre, Nick Richards (DK only)

Value

• Nick Smith, Vit Krejci, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jose Alvarado, Bruce Brown, Chris Boucher, Moussa Diabate, Jordan Hawkins, David Roddy (if starting)

Stacks

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