NBA Player News

Some fans have grown impatient with the Knicks rotation, arguing that New York should be playing their youngsters heavy minutes, especially with the team 20+ games below .500. For instance, Kevin Knox is averaging just 14.3 minutes over NY’s last 13 games. However, Miller said his focus will be winning and developing the kids. “As we approach this, this is all about development,” Miller said Wednesday. “That will never change. It’s about how these guys get better just if they get 10 more minutes in a game. There are a lot of things that go into the development to make these guys better. Just having minutes isn’t the end-all. I think there are other ways and other factors.”

Four days after Wizards coach Brian Keefe said he was unsure if Sarr would be available for Washington’s opener, the rookie is no longer on the injury report. Jonas Valanciunas and Marvin Bagley III made starts during the preseason in Sarr’s absence, and the former is more likely to be impacted regarding fantasy value. While Bagley has deep-league value at best, Valanciunas is worth a look in standard leagues when allowed to start.

Hauser had a decent performance in the season opener, though he did play some extra minutes due to the lopsided score. Payton Pritchard will likely see the majority of the perimeter bench minutes if Hauser can’t play against Washington, with the starters cycling around him. There’s certainly a chance things get out of hand again, which could open the door for guys like Jordan Walsh, Jaden Springer or even Baylor Scheierman to see the floor. However, that doesn’t make them worth streaming.

Lyles is good to go for Sacramento’s season opener after missing the preseason with a groin injury. He’ll provide depth behind Domantas Sabonis, which is a difficult place to be regarding fantasy value. Managers should not feel obligated to roster Lyles unless they’re in an incredibly deep league.

Kawhi didn’t have an exact timeline with this knee issue that has been plaguing him, so any expected absence length was just speculation. However, this gives us a rough estimate, and the earliest we should expect to see him out on the floor would be the middle of November. Leonard will obviously be impactful when healthy, but until he’s back, guys like Norman Powell, Terance Mann and Amir Coffey will see extra shots and minutes, with James Harden obviously taking on a bulk of the workload.

Embiid, who underwent a procedure on his left knee after playing for the United States in the Paris Olympics, is not expected to play during the first week of the regular season. In seasons past, the league changed its player participation rules, giving priority to “high-profile” games. The 76ers’ handling of Embiid has reportedly raised a red flag as a potential violation of the league’s player participation rules. It’s doubtful that Embiid would be sanctioned if the NBA decided to mete out punishment, so this isn’t something fantasy managers should concern themselves with. The lone concerns are when he’ll be healthy enough to play and how many games he’ll be available for.

Huerter shouldn’t face any restrictions Thursday, and fantasy managers in need of three-pointers can pencil him into lineups.

It looks like Murray will be available for Wednesday’s opener against Chicago. He’ll presumably open the season as New Orleans’ starting PG.

What a way to start the year for AD. He dominated this entire game, and it showed up in the box score. He was able to make an impact in every category, though he didn’t launch as many 3-pointers as rumors suggested he would. The main thing for Davis has always been health, and if he can stay on the floor this season, managers will see plenty performances just like this one. AD was a consensus first round pick after he played in a career-high 76 games last season. If he can get anywhere close to that mark, he’ll be one of the best players in fantasy hoops.

Outside of Anthony Davis, Hachimura was the best offensive option for the Lakers in this game. He got off to a quick start with a 3-pointer and a dunk in the first two minutes and didn’t look back. He was the second-leading scorer on the team and third in the whole game. Unfortunately for category league managers, Hachimura doesn’t contribute much value outside of points consistently. He was able to contribute some defensive stats in this game, which was a nice bonus, but it’s difficult to justify rostering Hachimura, outside of light days like this one.

Reaves’ numbers didn’t pop, but he was able to do a little bit of everything in this game despite a substandard shooting performance. He contributed numbers across the board and fell one rebound shy of a double-double. Reaves didn’t make any of his five 3-point attempts and missed his only free throw, which is out of character for him. However, there is no reason for managers to be concerned at this point. Reaves should still be in for a solid season as the Lakers’ third option behind Anthony Davis and LeBron James, and he may still outplay his Yahoo ADP of 88.4.