NBA Player News

The Wolves have the worst record in the NBA, which wasn’t entirely Saunders’ fault as both Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell have missed a handful of games. But the team was obviously struggling and now, Toronto Raptors assistant coach Chris Finch will assume head coaching duties for the league’s worst team, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Finch will be the full-time coach and not just the interim one, as he agreed to a multi-year contract with the franchise.

The last five games for Leonard should scare the rest of the NBA. During that stretch, he has averaged 26.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.8 three-pointers while shooting 60.2 percent from the floor. That has allowed him to provide top ten value in nine-cat leagues during that stretch. The Clippers have three more back-to-backs this season, though two of them are in April and one is during the final week of the regular season. There is no reason for him to play back-to-backs this close to the playoffs, but when he is on the floor, he will continue to shine.

Harden seems to have turned back the clock over the past few weeks, and he is producing like the player that won an MVP award. He has had a strong year overall, but he has cleaned up the inefficiency recently, which has taken his game to another level. He has averaged 4.4 turnovers per game this season but has only turned it over five times over his last three games. On top of that, he has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in three of his last four games. This may not stick, but it has been a big reason for the Clippers winning eight of their last nine games.

Head coach Taylor Jenkins hasn’t always turned to Pippen Jr. to start when Ja Morant is out of the lineup, but he did on Friday. Though it didn’t result in a win for the Grizzlies, it was a strong performance for Pippen Jr. He was able to contribute value across the board while maintaining efficiency as the starting point guard. He had been playing well as a reserve entering this game, so perhaps the starting nod was Jenkins’ way of rewarding him. Pippen Jr. has provided third-round value over the past two weeks, mostly because he has averaged 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals during that stretch.

Entering this game, Bane had averaged 29.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 4.3 three-pointers over his last three games, which includes a 44-point performance on Monday to start this week. Everything fell flat on Friday for him, and Memphis dropped a third-straight game. Bane has had plenty of success without Ja Morant in the lineup, but that simply wasn’t the case on Friday. This was the Grizzlies’ final game of the week, and they’ll return to the court in Utah on Tuesday.

The points were nice, but the rest of this outing was disappointing for Jackson Jr. and his team. He started at center against Ivica Zubac, but he was only able to grab two rebounds in 35 minutes. Jackson Jr. is known for being a weak rebounder, but he wasn’t able to offset the lack of production in that category with dominance in others; he only blocked one shot and had an inefficient shooting night. Unfortunately, this was the last game of the week for Memphis, and they only have three games next week.

Zubac added another double-double to his season total in another big win for the red-hot Clippers. They have won five in a row and eight of their last nine, and Zubac’s dominance has been a big reason for that. He has had the best season of his career, which includes career-highs for points, rebounds, assists and minutes per game. Tyronn Lue has finally handed the keys to the center position to Zubac instead of making him split minutes with another big, and it has resulted in success for both fantasy managers and the Clippers.

The managers that held onto Vassell through his slump are reaping the rewards. In the month of March, Vassell has averaged 18.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.1 blocks and three three-pointers while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor and only turning the ball over once per game. That has him ranked in the top ten in nine-cat value this month. Wednesday’s win over the Knicks was a quieter performance for him, but he was able to bounce back well on Friday.

Tatum was back in the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn. With the way the schedule worked out, this was Tatum’s first game in almost a week. He extended his 20-point streak to six games, but the extra rest didn’t help his field goal percentage, and he compounded his inefficiencies by turning the ball over six times. Jaylen Brown is set to remain out on Sunday, so Tatum will continue to see a slight uptick in shots for Boston to close out the week, though that is the first leg of a back-to-back. It’s unclear which leg Tatum will play in, though he could play in both.

George has played well over Utah’s last three games since returning from a four-game absence. It fact, his return has come with some surprising efficiency. He was below the 50 percent mark in this game, but he has shot 51.4 percent from the floor since his return, which is a dramatic improvement over his 39.9 percent shooting this season. It is a hot streak for George, but it isn’t something that managers should get used to. Enjoy it while it lasts, but George won’t continue to shoot quite this well.

Sexton was the primary source of offense in Friday’s ugly loss to Boston. He accounted for over a third of Utah’s points between his scoring and passing. He was incredibly efficient as a shooter, but he simply didn’t get much help from his teammates, especially the other starters, who combined to score a total of 21 points. Sexton has missed some back-to-backs and matchups with fellow lottery teams, but Utah’s next four games are against teams that are in the top five in their respective conferences.