NBA DFS Injury Pivots & Minute Adjustments (11/29/25)

Overview

• Slate is highly concentrated around a few injury spots, highlighted by a massive Baylor Scheierman minutes spike of +25.9 min tied to Derrick White.
• Most of the value comes from mid-tier and bench pieces gaining +5.0 to +16.4 min, while several role players lose -6.1 to -14.4 min and become fragile.
• BOS, GSW, and MIA rotations carry the largest leverage, with a smaller but clean value bump on NOP.

Daily Pivots

Key Pivots

Alpha Pivot

Baylor Scheierman is the clear slate-breaking pivot, with a massive +25.9 min boost tied to Derrick White and an additional +12.8 min shift tied to Neemias Queta. That type of combined minute profile pushes him toward full starter-level run with room for closing time, creating one of the highest raw ceiling jumps on the slate relative to baseline.

This kind of minutes spike is exactly what drives optimal cash builds and chalk in small-field contests, but it also makes Scheierman the most important decision point in large-field GPPs. You either lean into the volume and surround him with lower-owned pieces from other spots, or intentionally get underweight and bet on alternative BOS constructions if ownership gets extreme.

Secondary Pivots

• Neemias Queta drives multiple BOS shifts beyond Scheierman: Amari Williams gains +11.9 min, while Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Anfernee Simons lose -6.9, -7.9, and -14.4 min respectively. That creates a concentrated value pocket around Scheierman and Williams, with clear fades on the losing role players in projections-heavy formats.

• Gary Payton II opens a major GSW frontcourt lane, with Trayce Jackson-Davis jumping +16.4 min. That scale of increase is tournament-relevant on its own and also elevates his correlation value with any GSW-heavy stacks if ownership stays moderate.

• Norman Powell on MIA quietly reshapes the hierarchy: Bam Adebayo gains +5.8 min, while Keshad Johnson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Pelle Larsson fall by -6.1, -7.7, and -12.3 min. Bam becomes a stronger mid-to-upper tier centerpiece, and the bench wings move firmly into avoid territory outside of extreme MME.

• Jonathan Kuminga and Trey Murphy III carry smaller but clean pivots: Gui Santos and Moses Moody each gain +6.2 min on GSW, while Jordan Hawkins picks up +5.9 min on NOP. These are the kind of secondary boosts that matter more for leverage in large-field GPPs than for cash game cores.

Value Targets

• Baylor Scheierman is the premier salary saver on the slate, with +25.9 min from Derrick White and another +12.8 min from Queta feeding his role. He fits optimally in chalky builds on both DraftKings and FanDuel, with leverage coming from how you handle the rest of BOS around him.

• Trayce Jackson-Davis at +16.4 min and Amari Williams at +11.9 min project as high-upside value bigs compared to typical bench allocations. They are especially attractive in leverage builds that fade or underweight more obvious wing chalk while still capturing injury-driven volume.

• The mid-range value tier is rounded out by Gui Santos, Moses Moody, Jordan Hawkins, Kel'el Ware, and Bam Adebayo with +5.3 to +6.2 min bumps. These plays work better as differentiated pieces in balanced, correlation-focused GPP constructions rather than as core cash locks.

Deep Rotation Notes

BOS - Rotational winners and losers

• Baylor Scheierman is the clear winner, combining +25.9 min from Derrick White with +12.8 min from Queta, which strongly suggests starter-level and potentially closing usage.
• Amari Williams is the secondary beneficiary with +11.9 min, making him viable as a low-owned value frontcourt piece in large fields.
• Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Anfernee Simons carry sizeable downside at -6.9, -7.9, and -14.4 min, making them prime candidates to cap or avoid entirely when building around BOS-heavy constructions.

GSW - Bench emergence

• Trayce Jackson-Davis gains +16.4 min off the Gary Payton II impact, which is one of the largest single jumps on the slate and immediately puts him in play across formats.
• Gui Santos and Moses Moody each gain +6.2 min tied to Jonathan Kuminga, offering sneaky tournament fillers when you need cheap access to GSW volatility.
• These GSW pieces work well in small three-man correlations where you bet on one game environment and let the extra run translate into outsized upside.

MIA - Bam consolidation

• Bam Adebayo is the main beneficiary of Norman Powell, with +5.8 min, while Keshad Johnson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Pelle Larsson drop by -6.1, -7.7, and -12.3 min.
• That consolidation makes Bam a stronger spend option in lineups that do not prioritize the BOS value stack, especially in single entry and 3-max.
• The negative bench deltas push the MIA secondary wings to the fringes, appropriate only for ultra-contrarian large-field darts.

NOP - Secondary scoring lane

• Jordan Hawkins picks up +5.9 min from Trey Murphy III, giving him a viable path to extended run as a scoring wing.
• Hawkins fits best as a one-off value or as part of a small NOP mini-stack in lineups that already lean toward mid-tier construction.

Roster Construction

• If you are using Baylor Scheierman at his +25.9 min and +12.8 min boosts, pair him with one of the clear minute gainers like Trayce Jackson-Davis or Amari Williams and avoid stacking multiple BOS pieces with -6.9 min or worse.
• In large-field GPPs, consider lineups that fade or underweight Scheierman and instead lean into GSW and MIA pivots such as Trayce Jackson-Davis and Bam Adebayo, banking on lower combined ownership.
• Limit exposure to negatively affected role players like Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser, Keshad Johnson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Pelle Larsson, whose -6.1 to -14.4 min swings sharply reduce both floor and ceiling.