NBA Player News

This status upgrade was expected, with Doncic considered probable on the initial injury report. With Dallas looking to extend the NBA Finals to a Game 6, he’ll play at least 40 minutes unless the game turns into a blowout.

The former MVP has yet to play a game this season, but this report indicates that he is inching closer to a return. There is still no official timeline, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he was able to make his debut within a couple of weeks. That isn’t the best timeline for fantasy managers that may have felt confused by his lack of availability, and the league has already fined the team for not properly reporting updates on his health. When Embiid returns, Andre Drummond will be pushed to the bench, though that won’t be the end of his value this season.

Reese was signed to a non-guaranteed deal a few days before the start of the regular season, and he played a total of two minutes in a blowout win. Leons will likely play a similar role, which means this won’t have any fantasy impact.

Kuzma will miss at least one more game, which means that Kyshawn George should get another start in a much tougher matchup. The rookie was solid in their last game (11/2/4/3), but Corey Kispert logged 37 minutes off the bench and contributed 16 points and four 3-pointers. Both players should continue to play large roles until Kuz returns.

Tyronn Lue has finally unleashed Zubac this season, and the early results have been excellent. In 35.4 minutes per game, he’s averaging 18.5 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists, all of which would be career-highs. It hasn’t been flawless, as his shooting percentages are down, and his blocks haven’t increased the way managers were hoping they would. Zubac was able to get the blocks in this game, but he wasn’t able to keep up the offensive production. They will take on the Suns on the second night of a back-to-back on Thursday, where Zubac will look to have a bounce back performance.

While the counting stats continue to be great, efficiency continues to plague Harden’s value. His 35.5% field goal percentage and 6.3 turnovers per game would both be the worst marks of his career, even if his other numbers are more reminiscent of the player that was a perennial top ten player in fantasy basketball. Harden doesn’t have to produce to that level, but if he can improve his efficiency to a level that is simply “bad” and not “by far worst in the league”, his value in 9-cat leagues will skyrocket. We’ll see if he can make that happen on the second night of a back-to-back against the suns on Thursday.

Powell has been fantastic to start this season, and that continued in this game. He called it “addition by subtraction” when they lost Paul George, because he said he would get a chance to step up. He has done just that, which has played well in fantasy hoops. Most of Powell’s value has come from his efficient scoring and shooting, as he has shot 51.4% from the floor on 18.5 attempts per game, which has led to 26.0 points and 3.8 triples per game. Managers can’t rely on him for much production in other categories, but he should be an excellent scoring option all year.

Portland’s offseason acquisition has gotten off to a bumpy start to the year despite starting in every game. The main issue has been a subpar field goal percentage, which was an issue once again in this game. However, this was arguably his best performance as a Trail Blazer, as he recorded a double-double while maintaining the defensive production. Avdija is averaging 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, which has kept his value afloat in 9-cat leagues. If he can get his field goal percentage up from 30.4% and his 3-point percentage up from 11.1%, his 9-cat value should skyrocket. Hopefully he can do that sooner rather than later.

This was Ayton’s fifth appearance this season, and it was also his fifth double-double. That’s certainly a positive, but his numbers haven’t exactly been dominant. His shooting percentages are both down in comparison to previous seasons, which has limited his impact in 9-cat leagues. The rebounds are by far his strongest category, and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue moving forward. Managers shouldn’t expect Ayton to take any sort of massive statistical leap at this point, but it would be nice to see him make some minor improvements. We’ll see if his double-double streak will continue as they head into a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.

After struggling in their last game, Simons was able to bounce back in this one and lead the team in scoring. His weak categories, such as rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage, continue to plague his value in 9-cat leagues, though that isn’t uncommon for an undersized guard. However, the points, 3-pointers and assists have been plentiful thus far, and he has maintained an elite free throw percentage and rate. Simons will continue to be exactly what he was expected to be, with some occasional poor shooting nights mixed in. Still, he responded well in this game, which was encouraging to see.

Daniel Theis exited this game early with an ankle injury, which allowed Missi to start the second half in his place. Unfortunately, he only played the first five minutes of the second half before sitting out the rest of the game. Willie Green said that he is dealing with some pain in his hip, which can explain why Missi didn’t play a ton of minutes or provide much in the box score. Before this game, the rookie had gotten off to a strong start to the year, and if Theis remains out on Friday, Missi could get his first career start against the Pacers.