What It Means:

Carter injured his quad during Wednesday's practice and was listed as doubtful on the previous injury report. Patrick Williams (hip) has been cleared to return after missing the last game. Bulls head coach Billy Donovan recently praised Daniel Gafford for how he has handled inconsistent playing time, so the second-year big could take on an expanded role with Carter out. Lauri Markkanen also figures to see more minutes at the five. In other Bulls news, Tomas Satoransky and Chandler Hutchison are on track to play Friday for the first time in 2021 after recovering from COVID-19.

Gafford is averaging 0.9 FanDuel points per minute without WCJ on the court this season. numberFire's models project him for 21.6 FanDuel points versus the Hornets and he has a salary of $3,500 on Friday. Gafford is numberFire's best value at his position and fourth-best among all players on Friday's 11-game slate.