I wanted to wait until after the NBA Trade Deadline today before publishing the What If Matrix to incorporate any impact to the teams playing Thursday that made deals. Teams most impacted for tonight’s games include the Lakers and Magic. There are also some injuries to keep an eye on.
This article will attempt to list all of the relevant injury situations to monitor for the day’s NBA slate and provide guidance on which players will benefit with either an increase in minutes or usage or both if that player is ruled out. I will also place an asterisk (*) by players that I think are worth DFS consideration if that player is ruled out. Players that have been out for at least five consecutive games I will not list as general playing time and usage patterns should be established.
This will NOT be an interactive article that is continually updated throughout the day as I hope to capture all of the potential relevant injury situations that could impact DFS lineups for the night and pre-determine what players benefit. Ideally, you monitor late-breaking news leading up to tipoff, find out a player is ruled out and come check the matrix below to see who the players are you should consider for your DFS lineups based on that news.
This article series will be a work in progress and I welcome any and all feedback on its usefulness and format either in the Comments below or directly to me on Twitter @Rotopilot.
NBA What If – Thursday, February 8
| Team | Player | Status | If OUT |
| Celtics | Greg Monroe | Probable | Aron Baynes (minutes) Daniel Theis (minutes) |
| Hawks | Marco Belinelli | Questionable | Taurean Prince (minutes) Kent Bazemore (minutes) John Collins (usage) |
| Hornets | Marvin Williams | Probable | Frank Kaminsky (minutes) Treveon Graham (minutes) Nicolas Batum (usage) Jeremy Lamb (usage) |
| Knicks | Kristaps Porzingis | Out | Michael Beasley (minutes/usage)* Lance Thomas (minutes/usage) Trey Burke (usage) Tim Hardaway Jr. (usage)* Kyle O’Quinn (usage) Courtney Lee (usage) |
| Knicks | Enes Kanter | Out | Kyle O’Quinn (minutes)* Lance Thomas (minutes/usage) Michael Beasley (usage)* |
| Knicks | Doug McDermott | Traded | Tim Hardaway Jr. (minutes)* Courtney Lee (minutes) Trey Burke (minutes) |
| Knicks | Tim Hardaway Jr. | Probable | Doug Mc Dermott (minutes/usage)* Courtney Lee (minutes/usage)* Jarrett Jack (usage)* Michael Beasley (usage)* |
| Lakers | Jordan Clarkson | Traded | Tyler Ennis (minutes/usage) Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (minutes/usage)* Josh Hart (minutes)* Kyle Kuzma (usage)* |
| Lakers | Larry Nance Jr. | Traded | Kyle Kuzma (minutes)* |
| Magic | Elfrid Payton | Traded | Shelvin Mack (minutes/usage)* DJ Augustin (minutes/usage)* Jonathan Simmons (usage)* |
| Magic | Aaron Gordon | Out | Mario Hezonja (minutes/usage)* Marreese Speights (minutes/usage) Jonathan Simmons (usage)* Elfrid Payton (usage) |
| Magic | Nikola Vucevic | Out | Bismack Biyombo (minutes) Jonathan Simmons (usage) Elfrid Payton (usage) |
| Mavericks | Harrison Barnes | Out | Dwight Powell (minutes)* Maxi Kleber (minutes) Dirk Nowitzki (usage) Yogi Ferrell (usage) JJ Barea (usage)* |
| Mavericks | Devin Harris | Traded | Yogi Ferrell (minutes) JJ Barea (minutes)* |
| Raptors | Jonas Valanciunas | Probable | Jakob Poeltl (minutes) Lucas Nogueira (minutes) DeMar DeRozan (usage) Kyle Lowry (usage) Norman Powell (usage) Serge Ibaka (usage) |
| Thunder | Russell Westbrook | Questionable | Raymond Felton (minutes/usage)* Paul George (usage)* Carmelo Anthony (usage)* |
| Thunder | Carmelo Anthony | Questionable | Jerami Grant (minutes/usage)* Patrick Patterson (minutes) Paul George (usage)* Russell Westbrook (usage)* |
| Trail Blazers | Evan Turner | Questionable | Moe Harkless (minutes) Shabazz Napier (usage) |
| Warriors | Draymond Green | Probable | Kevon Looney (minutes) David West (minutes) Steph Curry (usage)* Kevin Durant (usage)* Klay Thompson (usage)* Andre Iguodala (usage) |
| Warriors | Kevin Durant | Probable | Andre Iguodala (minutes/usage) Omri Casspi (minutes/usage)* Steph Curry (usage)* Klay Thompson (usage)* Nick Young (usage) |
| Wizards | Markieff Morris | Questionable | Mike Scott (minutes)* Bradley Beal (usage) Kelly Oubre (usage) |
