The Utah Jazz did not have the services of Gordon Hayward on Monday night (quadriceps). However, the Jazz were still able to march to victory, in large part because of an enormous effort from Rudy Gobert. The center played 40 minutes, he had 20 points, 19 rebounds, and 6 blocks in helping Utah to victory. The Jazz now head to Sacramento and a big question heading into the game is the playing status of Hayward.
Hayward reported as "questionable"
As of Tuesday night, the Jazz all star was reported as "questionable" (NBC's Rotoworld.com) with updates pending the morning shootaround.
Whether he plays or not will have major implications when it comes to fantasy picks for the NBA on Wednesday.
A big reason for that is that small forward Joe Ingles is one player that will almost certainly see increased playing time if Hayward is not in the lineup. Ingles is priced cheap in the Fanduel market at just $4300. That low price reflects normal playing time with implications for his statistics. Of course, if he's more relied on than normal with Hayward out of the lineup then Ingles - and arguably the other key Jazz players - would have increased fantasy value.
Rodney Hood could be a sleeper pick
Rodney Hood is a player that enjoyed a lot more success on Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans when compared to his normal fantasy production.
The shooting guard logged 30 minutes of court time, the most he saw since a game at Houston on March 8th. Accordingly he enjoyed his best fantasy-point showing of late as well at Fanduel, where he had 30.7 fantasy points against the Pelicans despite being a low-cost pick. Tonight Hood enters the game against the Sacramento Kings priced at just $3900 with Fanduel, almost rock bottom for a price.
Of course, if Hayward is out then Hood would be touching the ball a lot more on the offensive side of the court. That adds a lot of upside to his average fantasy-point value of 20 per game.
When it comes to betting on the Utah Jazz, the Kings aren't a bad team to play with your star player questionable. Sacramento are 13th in the Western Conference, they are 4-6 in their last 10, and just 15-22 at home. This is a game that Utah could win with their back-up players, perhaps suggesting the Quin Snyder shouldn't risk things when it comes to deciding whether to play or rest his small forward.
