NBA Player News

Simpson played the last four games of last season with the Thunder, and they didn’t really take him off the court. The Magic probably won’t tank that hard, at least not at first. Simpson shouldn’t see much playing time, if he even makes the final roster, since this is just an Exhibit 10 contract. He’s behind a number of guards in Orlando and may spend a large portion of the year in the G-League.

With Rui Hachimura sidelined for this game, Dalton Knecht replaced him in the starting unit. However, it was Reddish that took advantage of the opportunity. JJ Redick said that he had earned some trust after their last game, and he built off that in this one. Even when Hachimura returns to the lineup, Reddish may have been able to solidify himself as their best wing reserve. When he’s given the opportunity, he’s certainly able to provide fantasy managers with both steals and 3-pointers, with some other stats sprinkled in. He is widely available on the waiver wire and should be considered in deeper leagues.

Garland went off with 39 points against the Bucks on Monday, but that was an outlier game for the Cavaliers point guard. He went back to taking a backseat in scoring to Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday, but still had a good game. Garland had nine assists and three turnovers. He made 4-of-6 3-point attempts and was +14 in 30 minutes in the nine-point victory. The Cavaliers have two more games this week with matchups against the Warriors on Friday and Nets on Saturday.

With Anthony Davis sidelined, Hayes was able to slide into the starting center spot for this game. He logged 35 minutes, while Christian Koloko filled out the 13 backup center minutes. Hayes was effective on the glass, but he didn’t really contribute much else. The lack of blocked shots comes as a bit of a surprise, given how athletic he is. As long as Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt remain sidelined, Hayes is the best option that the Lakers have when AD is unavailable to play. He isn’t always going to dominate as a starter (as we saw in this game), but the opportunity is too good to pass up.

Allen had his third double-double in a row and fifth in his last six games. He was a team-high +24 in 35 minutes in the nine-point victory. Allen is a beast on the boards and a key to the Cavaliers’ success. The Cavaliers have two more games this week with matchups against the Warriors on Friday and Nets on Saturday.

The King is still here. With Anthony Davis sidelined for this game with a heel injury, James stepped up in a big way and had an incredibly efficient shooting night. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much help from his supporting cast, so they weren’t able to secure a win. Still, LeBron clearly still has quite a bit left in the tank and is able to take over when needed. He set a new season-high for both points and 3-pointers, which comes two days after he logged 40 minutes in a loss to the Pistons. Their five-game road trip is over, and they’ll head home to host the 76ers on Friday. Hopefully, LeBron can carry some of this offensive juice with him to Los Angeles.

Mitchell continues to have an excellent season. After scoring just 14 points on Monday with Darius Garland going off for 39 points, he bounced back with 29 points on Wednesday. He took 20 shots to get there, made 3-of-9 attempts from behind the 3-point line and had two turnovers. Mitchell was +4 in 34 minutes. The Cavaliers have two more games this week with matchups against the Warriors on Friday and Nets on Saturday.

White had an interesting game. He played 36 minutes despite committing five fouls and 16 of his 19 shot attempts were from behind the 3-point line. White made seven 3-pointers and only had one turnover, but still needed 19 shots to get his 26 points and was -11 in the six-point loss. He’s a top-20 player in fantasy. The Celtics will play the Nets on Friday and Bucks on Sunday later this week.

Tatum had 32 points on 20 shots and four turnovers in the loss. He was all over the stat sheet, though, and made 5-of-10 attempts from behind the 3-point line. Tatum had a revenge narrative going into Wednesday’s game given that Steve Kerr buried him in the rotation on Team USA over the summer. While he had a good game, Kerr and the Warriors had the last laugh by getting the win. The Celtics will play the Nets on Friday and Bucks on Sunday later this week.

Coming off his worst performance of the season in their last game, Young was far better in this one, even if it still wasn’t great. Field goal percentage has always been an issue for Young, and it’s one that managers are accustomed to at this point. When punting field goal percentage and turnovers, Trae has been a top ten player in fantasy basketball so far this season, which is exactly why he was drafted in the first round in many leagues. He exited early from their last game due to a rib injury, and we’ll be monitoring to see if that is an issue heading into their back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.