NBA Player News

Avdija has a chance to return after missing their last three games. If he returns, the starting unit will consist of Avdija, Jordan Poole, Corey Kispert and Kyle Kuzma, with a fifth player. That will be Holmes, unless he is ruled out. If that happens, Kuzma will likely start at center, with that open starting spot going to either Patrick Baldwin Jr. or Johnny Davis. Both players started in their last game, and neither will be worth streaming.

Eason didn’t have a productive performance in their last game, which was a blowout game. He played just 18 minutes, which wasn’t enough time for him to make an impact. However, he bounced back with a season-high for rebounds and had seven stocks for the second time this season. He’s averaging career-highs in points, steals, blocks and 3-pointers while also shooting the best field goal percentage of his career, which has him ranked in the top-50 in 9-cat leagues. Eason is somehow available in 52% of Yahoo leagues, which simply shouldn’t be the case.

Agbaji has had a productive season for Toronto this year, which continued in this game. He contributed value across the board and had a much better shooting night after three straight games making less than 40% of his shot attempts. Agbaji is currently available in 62% of Yahoo leagues but should be a solid streaming option until the team starts to get healthier. He had a hot scoring stretch a couple weeks ago, and while he can’t be relied on for that many points often, the defensive numbers and 3-pointers should be there consistently.

Two days after setting a new career-high for assists, Barrett had the third-highest scoring performance of his career, which was his best since being traded to the Raptors. He is currently averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists and 3-pointers, though his shooting efficiency and turnovers have taken a step back. Barrett still doesn’t really contribute defensive numbers, so he relies on nights like this one to really contribute in fantasy basketball. Since being held to a season-low seven points last week, he has scored at least 20 in three straight, which he will look to keep going against Minnesota on Thursday.

Poeltl has been on quite the runover their last few games. He is averaging 30.0 points, 15.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks while shooting 70.7% from the floor over their last three games, which is certainly helping his trade value. With Toronto in the middle of a rebuild, Poeltl should be a hot target for contending teams at the trade deadline. More performances like this will certainly help bring back more assets to the Raptors in February. Until then, he’ll continue to put up big numbers as the unquestioned starting center.

Mathurin has been on a scoring tear lately, which continued in this game. He has now scored at least 20 points in six of his last seven games and currently ranks in the top-100 in 9-cat leagues. He has been a strong rebounder this season, and while that didn’t continue in this game, he was still able to grab a few. His 6.7 rebounds per game this season have been the biggest reason for his jump in 9-cat value, since he can provide more than just points. He’ll look to stay hot in Houston on Wednesday.

Carrington has been one of the more productive players in this season’s rookie class, and that continued on Monday. He was one of three Wizards to score a team-high 18 points, and the rookie continues to provide 10th-round per-game value in 9-cat formats. If Carrington can continue to improve his field goal percentage (43.8%), he can sneak into the top 100. He should be rostered in more than 27% of Yahoo leagues.

The start to the season hasn’t been what fantasy managers expected from Haliburton, but he has been better as of late. This was his fourth game this season with less than five assists after having just five last season, all of which came during games where his minutes were limited. He didn’t shoot the ball well in this game either, though he was able to provide seven stocks in this game, which was a nice bonus. TJ McConnell ended up leading the in assists in this game (10/3/7/5, +23 in 27 minutes), but he hasn’t been as productive this season as he was last year.

With Myles Turner and Ben Sheppard joining Indiana’s growing list of injuries for this game, Walker got the first start of his career. Unfortunately, despite getting 25 minutes, things didn’t go that well for the former top ten pick. Walker wasn’t productive in the box score, and they were outscored by 17 minutes when he was on the floor. After spending most of his first season in the G-League, year two hasn’t been great early on for Walker. Obi Toppin ended up being far more productive in 31 minutes off the bench, and he should be considered as a better fantasy option moving forward, especially if Turner remains out in Houston on Wednesday.

The 76ers attempted 12 free throws on Monday, with George responsible for nine. While Joel Embiid has struggled in his limited time on the court, George is a top-50 player in 9-cat formats. That doesn’t align with his Yahoo ADP (35), but the gap between ADP and current value isn’t significant. With his minutes no longer restricted, George’s production should improve.

Embiid was considered doubtful for Monday’s game until about an hour before tip-off, and he may have been better off not playing. The 76ers center looked like a shell of himself, rarely attacking offensively and not attempting a free throw. And with Philadelphia scheduled to play three more games in Week 5, managers who have Embiid rostered will have to hope that Monday’s performance was the low point.