The Week Ahead: Week 12
Three Games: BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, IND, LAL, MIA, NYK, OKC, PHI, PHX
Four Games: ATL, BKN, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, HOU, LAC, MIL, MIN, NOR, ORL, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA, WAS
Five Games: MEM
NBA Updates Health & Safety Protocols… again
The NBA has again revised their health & safety protocols to allow asymptomatic, vaccinated players to return to the floor in after a quarantine period of five days if they’re able to show through COVID-19 testing that they have cycle threshold (CT) levels above 35. This is an excellent change for both the league and fantasy hoops, as a five-day absence is far more management than 10 days, and with the shortened quarantine period, players likely won’t need as much time to ramp up their conditioning once they are cleared.
Players who have cleared/set to clear quarantine in Week 12
Note: Date in parenthesis is the earliest a vaccinated player could clear quarantine. If they’ve already cleared quarantine, but have yet to play, they are listed as “conditioning.”
Atlanta: Kevin Huerter (conditioning), Danilo Gallinari (conditioning), Onyeka Okongwu (1/3), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (1/3), Bogdan Bogdanovic (1/4), Gorgui Dieng (1/4), Jalen Johnson (1/5), John Collins (1/5)
Boston: Jayson Tatum (expected to play Wednesday), Bruno Fernando (1/3), C.J. Miles (1/3), Aaron Nesmith (1/3), Enes Freedom (conditioning)
Brooklyn: Kyrie Irving (expected to play Wednesday)
Charlotte: P.J. Washington (conditioning)
Chicago: Tony Bradley (1/5)
Cleveland: Darius Garland (cleared, GTD Tuesday), Cedi Osman (1/4)
Dallas: Isaiah Thomas (1/4), Brandon Knight (1/3), Boban Marjanovic (1/3), Trey Burke (conditioning), Kristaps Porzingis (1/7)
Denver: Monte Morris (1/5), Jeff Green (conditioning), Bones Hyland (conditioning), Zeke Nnaji (conditioning)
Detroit: Killian Hayes (cleared), Cade Cunningham (cleared), Saben Lee (cleared), Josh Jackson (cleared), Trey Lyles (cleared), Cory Joseph (1/5), Isaiah Stewart (conditioning, out Monday)
Golden State: Draymond Green (probable for Monday), Damion Lee (conditioning)
Houston: Armoni Brooks (1/5), Garrison Mathews (conditioning), D.J. Augustin (cleared)
Indiana: Goga Bitadze (1/6), Caris LeVert (1/6), Kelan Martin (conditioning), Chris Duarte (conditioning), Isaiah Jackson (conditioning), Jeremy Lamb (conditioning)
L.A. Clippers: Luke Kennard (1/5), Ivica Zubac (conditioning)
Memphis: Kyle Anderson (1/6), Xavier Tillman (conditioning), John Konchar (conditioning), Dillon Brooks (conditioning), De’Anthony Melton (conditioning)
Miami: Duncan Robinson (1/4), Gabe Vincent (conditioning), Udonis Haslem (conditioning), Max Strus (conditioning)
Milwaukee: Thanasis Antetokounmpo (1/6), Semi Ojeleye (1/4)
Minnesota: D’Angelo Russell (conditioning), Karl-Anthony Towns (conditioning)
New Orleans: Jonas Valanciunas (available Monday), Tomas Satoransky (1/6), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (conditioning), Naji Marshall (conditioning)
New York: Mitchell Robinson (1/4), Julius Randle (conditioning), Nerlens Noel (conditioning)
Oklahoma City: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1/6), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (conditioning), Darius Bazley (conditioning), Tre Mann (conditioning)
Orlando: Robin Lopez (conditioning), Chuma Okeke (conditioning)
Philadelphia: Matisse Thybulle (conditioning), Danny Green (conditioning)
Phoenix: Deandre Ayton (conditioning), JaVale McGee (conditioning), Elfrid Payton (conditioning), Jae Crowder (conditioning)
Portland: Jusuf Nurkic (conditioning), Anfernee Simons (cleared), Robert Covington (cleared),
San Antonio: Doug McDermott (1/5), Lonnie Walker IV (1/5), Dejounte Murray (conditioning)
Washington: Anthony Gill (1/6), Brad Wanamaker (conditioning), Spencer Dinwiddie (conditioning), Aaron Holiday (conditioning), Montrezl Harrell (conditioning), Raul Neto (conditioning), Rui Hachimura (conditioning)
Kyrie Irving – Headache or Ass..et?
With Kyrie Irving set to make his season debut on Wednesday in Indiana, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about his rest-of-season potential, and my answer would be that it depends. I think he’ll be a massive headache in head-to-head formats, as he’ll be missing every home game, so most weeks he’ll only be available for 1-2 games; and only twice will he have a four-game week. I think that’ll be somewhat easier to manage in roto settings, but he’ll probably be more trouble than he’s worth in H2H formats. For that reason, if I had him on my roster in a head-to-head league, I’d try and trade him by Week 15 at the latest.
Here’s his schedule and how many games he’ll be available for each week moving forward, assuming no injuries, which is not a great assumption considering Kyrie’s lengthy injury history.
Regular Fantasy Season
Week 12: One game
Week 13: One game
Week 14: Four games
Week 15: One game
Week 16: Four games
Week 17: Two games
Week 18: One game (if he’s allowed to play in New York vs. the Knicks)
Fantasy Playoffs Begin
When the fantasy playoffs begin in your league will depend on how your commissioner set it up, but the earliest start date is Week 19 with a Week 21 finish – and the latest start date is Week 22 with a Week 24 finish. My leagues will start Week 20 and end Week 22.
Week 19: One game
Week 20: Two games
Week 21: Two games
Week 22: One game
Week 23: Two games
Week 24: One game
This fantasy playoff schedule is particularly brutal – so again – if you have him, you should be looking to trade him.
Light Days
Tuesday – Five Games
MEM vs. CLE
SA vs. TOR
IND vs. NYK
PHX vs. NOP
SAC vs. LAL
Thursday – Four Games
BOS vs. NYK
DET vs. MEM
GSW vs. NOP
LAC vs. PHX
Saturday – Six Games
MEM vs. LAC
MIL vs. CHA
ORL vs. DET
UTA vs. IND
NYK vs. BOS
MIA vs. PHX
Streamers: Brandon Clarke (pending Kyle Anderson), Devin Vassell (should be rostered), Duane Washington Jr. (pending Chris Duarte), Justin Holiday, Immanuel Quickley, Jalen Smith (pending Deandre Ayton), Bismack Biyombo (pending DA and JaVale McGee), Herbert Jones (should be rostered), Damian Jones, Eric Bledsoe, Terence Mann, Luke Kennard (when he clears protocols), Malik Monk, Josh Richardson, Killian Hayes, Hamidou Diallo, Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Jordan Nwora (pending Khris Middleton), Cody Martin, Tim Frazier (pending Cole Anthony), Terrence Ross, Gary Harris, Royce O’Neale, Joe Ingles, Max Strus, Omer Yurtseven