NBA Player News

Washington didn’t have any fantasy value, and probably won’t be recalled unless Jacque Vaughn or Tony Parker are injured.

Russ got his second straight start on Monday and ended up having arguably his best game of the season. This was his second game scoring in double figures, and he scored more than 20 in both. With Jamal Murray dealing with a concussion, Westbrook has played more than 30 minutes in their last two games. Opportunity doesn’t always mean success for Russ, as he did struggle immensely against the Jazz on Saturday. They’ll be taking on an elite Thunder defense on Wednesday, which seems like a recipe for a bad game from Russ. He played well in this one, but it’s smart to play it safe and not expect it to continue.

Jokic was able to contribute some defensive stats in this game to go along with his third triple-double of the season. Denver got off to a slow start to the year, but they have now won four of their last five games, though their wins have been against the Jazz, Nets and Raptors twice. They’ll host the Thunder on Wednesday in a rematch of the season opener, which will give us a better indication of where this Denver team is at. Regardless, there isn’t much that any team can do to slow down Jokic, which has been the case for years now.

Aaron Gordon was only able to play four minutes in this game before exiting with a calf strain, which resulted in Peyton Watson logging 31 minutes and being part of the team’s closing lineup. The former first round pick has been lauded in dynasty formats, and he was able to give us a glimpse as to what things could look like if he was in a larger role consistently. If Gordon ends up missing more than just this game, Watson should be worth a pickup in his place. They host the Thunder on Wednesday, so keep an eye on the injury report.

Barrett didn’t have a great shooting night, but he still had a chance to win the game on a final shot, though he wasn’t able to get it to go. Part of that can be attributed to some contact from Russell Westbrook (or good defense, depending on how you look at it), but the rest of the night didn’t go well. Still, it was encouraging to see RJ continue to have success as a playmaker. He is averaging a career-high 7.6 assists, which should continue until either Immanuel Quickley or Scottie Barnes returns to the lineup.

Paul has now had three double-doubles in a row and at least eight assists in 6-of-7 games this season. The 39-year-old Paul isn’t the player he was in his prime, but he can still put up numbers. He’s been a top-50 player in fantasy so far this season. The Spurs take on the Rockets Wednesday and have matchups with the Trail Blazers and Jazz later in the week.

Before fouling out for the second straight game, Poeltl was able to set a new season-high for scoring and steals while recording another double-double. It’s still early, but Poeltl has been fantastic so far. He is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and free throw percentage. His free throw numbers are still bad, but going from abysmal to just “bad” is a big step in the right direction. Even though Toronto isn’t going to be competing for a postseason spot, Poeltl should be effective whenever he’s on the floor.

Champagnie had his season-high in points. He continues to start for the injured Devin Vassell. Champagnie isn’t much of a scorer except on nights where he starts feeling it from behind the 3-point line. He made 5-of-10 threes on Monday, but fantasy managers can’t count on that type of production regularly. The Spurs take on the Rockets Wednesday and have matchups with the Trail Blazers and Jazz later in the week.

Wemby filled up the stat sheet, but was also a -21 in 34 minutes in the nine-point loss. He wasn’t efficient with 24 points on 22 shots. He made all four of his free throw attempts, but made just 2-of-9 3-point attempts and had two turnovers. Wemby still gave fantasy managers a little bit of everything including nine blocks. He’s a top-10 player in fantasy. The Spurs take on the Rockets Wednesday and have matchups with the Trail Blazers and Jazz later in the week.

The expectation may have been that Dick would be able to provide plenty of buckets while taking on more responsibility on the offensive end. However, it was difficult to imagine him making this much of an impact in category leagues. The five stocks, five assists and efficient shooting were all huge bonuses to another big scoring night for Dick. This was his fourth straight game with at least 20 points and his fifth in their last six games. He has been a top-40 player in 9-cat leagues so far this year, and there’s no reason to think that he’ll slow down soon.

After recording nine rebounds in the season opener, Zubac has had at least 12 rebounds in six straight games. He posted his fourth double-double of the season on Monday and is a threat to have one every night. Zubac has taken on a bigger scoring role with Paul George in Philadelphia and Kawhi Leonard sidelined. The Clippers are back in action Wednesday against the 76ers.