Minutes to Win It - Monitoring NBA Rotations 3-25-15

In this segment, I'll be breaking down players who are seeing a significant increase or decrease in minutes due to new (or overlooked) circumstances. I'll also be looking at how injuries and/or trades have affected these players. Each player's situation is unique, and I'll help you find the matchups and scenarios to exploit or avoid due to each player's change in court time. Each player will have be tagged with “TARGET", “MONITOR", or “AVOID". For today's article, I'll be focusing on DraftKings scoring.

Greivis Vasquez – (PG) Toronto Raptors - TARGET

After seeing Kyle Lowry leaving last night's contest with a back injury, it seems that the Raptors rushed him back too soon. With that being said, there is no definitive timetable for his return. Even if he only misses a few games, Vasquez will be a big minutes beneficiary, as we have seen before. In the last two games Lowry missed, Vasquez played 37 and 34 minutes. He managed just 26.5 and 11.5 FP in those contests, but he generally posts numbers on the higher end of that spectrum. He is still a tremendous distributor, so he possesses upside as along as Lowry is sidelined.

Chase Budinger – (SF) Minnesota Timberwolves – TARGET

Budinger has been eating up tons of minutes with all the uncertainty in Minnesota, and it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon. He has averaged 28 FPPG in 35.75 minutes over his last 4 games. His FPPM average is a paltry 0.78, but at just $4,100, I'll give him and his big minutes a chance at a generally weak position.

Taj Gibson – (PF) Chicago Bulls – MONITOR

Gibson has had a down season on both ends of the court. His production is nowhere near where the Bulls or DFS players had anticipated, but much of that can be attributed to injuries. He is back in the rotation now, and he is a player to watch, especially when Joakim Noah or Pau Gasol misses any time. He played 32 minutes against Charlotte in Noah's absence, and while he managed just 19.75 FP, the minutes were encouraging. With the entire frontcourt healthy he is off my radar, but if any of the big men miss a game, he makes for a great value play at under $5,000.

Dwight Howard – (C) Houston Rockets – MONITOR

D12 has been out of action for two months, and he will likely be eased back into action by Kevin McHale. With that being said, this is a player who led the NBA in rebounding for two consecutive seasons before finishing 4^th last year (he still averaged 12.2 RPG). He has tremendous strength and size down low, and he makes for a very difficult matchup for any player in the paint. Give him a few games back in the rotation before targeting him, but at his current price point ($7,500) he may be poised for a breakout game sooner rather than later.