NBA Player News

The veteran is back after a one-game absence. He usually only sees a handful of minutes when the Jazz are mostly healthy, so leave him on the wire.

After scoring a season-high 25 points in Wednesday’s loss to the Kings, Okogie will make his first start of the season in Oklahoma City. Royce O’Neale heads back to the bench, which may be better for him after struggling in Sacramento. Deep-league managers who added O’Neale recently should hold onto him, as the minutes will remain.

In addition to Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets will be without Nikola Jokic (personal reasons) in New Orleans. As a result, Saric moves into the starting lineup, and he has a shot at fantasy relevance due to Denver’s lack of depth.

Cancar is not part of the team’s rotation when healthy. He may see the floor for a few minutes with Nikola Jokic out, but he doesn’t provide any fantasy value.

Adams is available and will slide into the backup center role. While this drops Jock Landale out of the rotation, Adams will not get the opportunities needed to impact fantasy basketball. Leave him on the waiver wire.

With Finney-Smith back after a two-game absence and Nic Claxton (back) out for at least one week, the Nets have made two changes to their starting lineup. Simmons will fill the void left by Claxton, while Finney-Smith’s return bumps Ziaire Williams to the bench.

Brunson is available to play in Friday’s game, but Karl-Anthony Towns (wrist) is not. As a result, Sims will start, but he is a risky streaming play. The opportunity to produce will undoubtedly be there, but Sims hasn’t offered much value when given the chance to start. Look for Ariel Hukporti to play rotation minutes off the bench.

Both point guards were listed as probable and have officially been given the all-clear. With Miles McBride out, Payne should see a larger role off the bench, while Brunson will have to do some extra scoring with Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined.

While McBride has been dealing with inflammation in his left knee, an illness is why he’ll sit out Friday’s game. Tyler Kolek will move into the rotation but is unlikely to get the run needed to impact fantasy basketball. Look for backup point guard Cameron Payne to play more as well.

Towns collided with Zach LaVine in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game against the Bulls. He stayed in the game, but was clearly less than 100%. Now he’ll get the night off with Jericho Sims set to start for the Knicks in his place, though Sims isn’t on the streaming radar Friday.

Rui Hachimura is out wtih an ankle sprain, which will reportedly allow Knecht to return to the starting unit. Max Christie should also make a return to the rotation and play a significant role off the bench. Knecht struggled in the only other start of his career, but he scored a career-high 19 points in their last game.