NBA Player News

The undrafted senior out of Duke is the younger brother of Mason and Miles. He averaged 8.3 points, 8.6 boards and 1.6 blocks during his senior season, but it’s hard to imagine him making an immediate impact if he makes the final roster in New York. He’ll play in summer league for the Knicks.

After undergoing surgery on his left shoulder this offseason, Carter finally made his debut for the Kings on Friday. He logged 11 minutes and contributed five rebounds and two assists in their win over Memphis. On Sunday, he was able to play 23 minutes and score the first points of his young career. He took on a larger role because of the lopsided score, but it was good to see him have a performance like this one. Carter will continue to play a reserve role moving forward, but he isn’t a player that is worth rostering in standard redraft leagues at this point.

Thompson got the starting nod in place of Jabari Smith Jr. in this game, and since Smith Jr. is expected to miss 4-8 weeks after fracturing his hand, that is a role that Thompson should maintain moving forward. Thompson was suspended for their last two games after his altercation with Tyler Herro, and while it wasn’t his first start of the season, he was able to set new season-highs for both points and rebounds in his return to the starting lineup. They play three games next week, and managers should expect Thompson to continue to dominate fantasy hoops moving forward now that his spot in the starting lineup is safe.

After having a poor shooting night in their win over the Hawks, AD got back on track in this game, even if it wasn’t enough for them to walk away with a win. This was the second time this season that Davis has recorded a 30-point double-double with at least five blocks. The rest of the league has a total of zero games reaching that threshold. Davis has done it 19 times in his career, which is sixth in NBA history behind five of the greatest centers in NBA history. The Lakers have three games next week, starting in Dallas on Tuesday.

That slow stretch that LeBron had a month ago is clearly behind him. He has been a top-five player in 9-cat leagues over the past two weeks with averages of 28.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 3.3 triples per game while shooting 57.8% from the floor and 85% from the free throw line. This was his seventh straight game with at least 20 points, and he has made at least 50% of his shots during that stretch. He’ll look to keep it going in Dallas on Tuesday.

Howard barely played during his rookie season, but he has had a few decent performances in year two. However, none of them compare to this one, as he set new career-highs for points, assists and 3-pointers in the loss. Howard hasn’t seen his minutes increase dramatically despite Orlando dealing with so many injuries, but that could change after a night like this. Still, we’ll need to see him string a few good games together before he becomes worthy of a roster spot in standard leagues. Keep an eye on the rotation in New York on Monday.

Queen is still on a two-way contract, and he barely saw the floor prior to the middle of December. However, with Orlando dealing with injuries to Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, Queen has been able to be part of the rotation a few times in recent weeks. He set a new season-high for assists in this game and scored in double figures for the second time this season. It’s great to see him play well, but he isn’t a player to consider rostering in standard leagues.

The rookie was able to have some strong performances early on this season, but he hasn’t been very productive since November. The Jazz were missing four of their top five scorers in this game, which allowed for plenty of other guys to take on larger roles. Filipowski was one of those, and he ended up scoring in double figures for the first time since November 17th. The rookie has plenty of upside in dynasty leagues, but he isn’t worth rostering in redraft leagues at this point.

About 24 hours after he grabbed 16 rebounds against the other Florida team, Kessler eclipsed that and tied his season-high for boards in this game. Utah won on Saturday through an excellent offensive effort, but they got it done on the defensive end in this game as they allowed a season-low 92 points in the win. Kessler’s block numbers have been down recently, but he has been dominant on the glass over the last two weeks. They have four games next week, starting against Atlanta on Tuesday, which will give Kessler plenty of chances to swat some shots.

Mitchell had a quiet first half in this game and entered the break with just two points on 1-of-4 shooting. This was his second straight game with less than 20 points, which hasn’t been a common theme for him this season. However, it hasn’t negatively impacted the team, as they’ve won 10 straight games, with Mitchell scoring less than 20 in four of those. They host the Thunder on Wednesday, which will be a matchup of the two hottest teams in the league. If they want to maintain their winning streak, Mitchell will have to be better.