NBA Player News

New Orleans currently has a strong core including Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, and they may be able to trade its lottery pick for yet another guy that can contribute right off the bat. That one extra piece likely doesn’t have to be a superstar as the aforementioned trio looks strong on paper, but keep in mind that Zion’s lost season made it so that they have little to no chemistry at the moment. If the Pels do keep the pick, someone they could consider is Duke wing AJ Griffin, who turns 19 in August and will almost surely be a lottery pick based on his shooting ability and length, per the majority of scouts. Even if the Pels don’t go through with a trade, if Zion can get to a full allotment of minutes sooner rather than later, they could be a lot of fun to watch and could make a postseason run as soon as this coming season.

Monday’s game will be the seventh on the sideline for Williams, who does not have a timeline for return. Ayo Dosunmu has been the replacement in the starting lineup most nights and is worth streaming as long as Williams is unavailable.

White played through a wrist injury in their last game, but now he is dealing with an ankle issue. If he were to miss their matchup with Brooklyn, Lonzo Ball and Talen Horton-Tucker would likely both be in line for extra minutes.

Ingles isn’t part of Minnesota’s rotation when he is healthy, so his continued absence won’t have any impact on fantasy basketball.

Toppin injured his ankle landing awkwardly after converting a basket during the third quarter. While he did remain in the game at the time, the Pacers forward was eventually subbed out just before the end of the period. Jarace Walker will play additional minutes if Toppin misses time.

Added to the Heat injury report earlier in the afternoon, Ware has been officially ruled out for Sunday’s game. With Kevin Love available, the rookie’s absence will not significantly impact the Heat rotation or fantasy basketball.

Bogi sat out the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday, which opened the door for both Garrison Mathews and Vit Krejci to take on extra minutes. Bogi should be back on Monday, but neither Mathews or Krejci were worth rostering even with Bogdanovic sidelined.

Since being fined $100,000 by the NBA for its handling of Young’s status earlier this season, the Hawks have not missed an opportunity to include him on the injury report. Fantasy managers should expect Young to take on his usual workload on Monday.

Strus injured his ankle on October 17 and has yet to appear in a game this season. The lack of a timeline when he was due to be re-evaluated in early December is especially concerning. With Dean Wade also injured, Isaac Okoro will continue to fill the void in the starting lineup left by Strus.

Already ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Celtics, Wade will also miss Cleveland’s matchup with Washington on Tuesday. He’s missed the last five games, and his next opportunity to play will be Thursday night against Denver. Wade’s absence isn’t too impactful in fantasy basketball, but it has freed up additional minutes for Isaac Okoro and Georges Niang.