Raptors Roster & Lineup vs. Kings; Kawhi Leonard’s Impact on NBA DFS

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Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard

The Toronto Raptors host the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night in a matchup of two teams capable of putting points on the board in a hurry. To make this game even more interesting, the Raptors have opted to sit star Kawhi Leonard for rest purposes. While Toronto opens as a big favorite even without him, there’s still quite a bit to take in from this matchup.

Specifically, the Raptors will again roll out a Leonard-less starting lineup and roster. This impacts a few things, but specifically the world of daily fantasy sports. We’re going to take a look at how the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year being off the floor impacts the roster and who gets the biggest boost statistically.

Before that, let’s start with the Raptors current roster for the game against the Kings as well as their expected depth chart.

Raptors Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Kings

It’s worth noting that along with Leonard, forward O.G. Anunoby has been ruled out and Jonas Valanciunas remains sidelined. In turn, this should lead to decent minutes for both Norman Powell and C.J. Miles, who have seen 17 or more in each of the past two games. Beyond that, Delon Wright gets a decent jump in playing time, largely due to the fact that he’s capable of playing both guard spots.

How the Raptors opt to approach their big men against a Kings team with Willie Cauley-Stein is worth monitoring, but Ibaka will surely draw the bulk of the minutes. There’s a chance Greg Monroe could see a slight uptick in playing time, but he’s been hit-or-miss throughout the season.

Lastly, the topic of Patrick McCaw is an interesting one, as he played just six minutes in a close finish two games ago, but saw 18 minutes in a blowout on Saturday. His outlook is tough to gauge, but it seems his workload could be dependant on game flow for the time being.

NBA DFS Impact of Kawhi Leonard Status

Leonard has now missed the past two games against the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns. The Raptors still managed to win both but received solid production from different players. In the win over the Suns, it was Serge Ibaka who led the way with 22 points while Kyle Lowry tallied 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Pascal Siakam double-doubled with 10 points and 12 rebounds while adding five assists and two blocks.

Danny Green (24 points, seven rebounds) sparked the win over the Grizzlies while Ibaka (18 points, five rebounds) and Siakam (17 points, eight rebounds) contributed solid stat lines. This game was a 29-point victory, so the bench received a decent amount of run, with Powell and Miles tacking on 14 and 13 points, respectively.

After looking at the above numbers, it’s not surprising to see that Basketball Monster shows a big usage jump for Ibaka with Leonard, Anunoby and Valanciunas off the floor. His usage jumps from 23.5 to 29.1 with his points per 36 minutes going from 20.6 up to 28.0. Lowry sees an increase as well and his points per 36 jump from 14.7 to 18.0 while Miles’ usage goes from 19.2 to 24.3.

Replacing Leonard is tough to do, but it seems the bulk of the work falls on the shoulders of Ibaka, Lowry and Siakam. Names like Powell, VanVleet, Wright, and even Miles could also be options to consider in DFS on a four-game slate.

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