NBA Player News

Playing against college teammate Donovan Clingan, Castle left the Thomas & Mack Center with bragging rights on Saturday night. He didn’t have his best night shooting the basketball, and the rookie guard was also responsible for five turnovers, but that isn’t something for fantasy managers to be worried about. Castle played well in Salt Lake City, and the overall performance on Friday was encouraging. During an in-game interview, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich spoke highly of Castle, saying he will be a “quick study.” Castle should be one of the first rookies off the board in drafts this fall.

Even with Jaden Ivey back in the starting lineup, Beasley came off the bench, played 27 minutes, made five 3-pointers and had 18 points. The three steals were just a bonus from the 28-year-old shooting guard. Beasley has to be rostered in all formats at this point. His lack of rostership on Yahoo (30 percent) is perplexing given that Beasley just refuses to go away this season. He can’t help but continue to make 3-pointers in bunches.

While Jones was his efficient self as a shooter, Devin Booker’s absence meant the Suns needed more scoring from their starting point guard. Jones’ two assists were a season-low, making that a category to watch when the Suns visit Denver on Monday with Booker sidelined. Low-assist games have not been the norm for Tyus, so fantasy managers shouldn’t be too concerned.

Ivey had missed two games with knee inflammation, but returned in a big way Saturday. Ivey certainly hasn’t been great in fantasy this season, but he was just two rebounds and two assists shy of a triple-double against the Suns. Ivey also had four 3-pointers and one steal. It was a high-scoring game, though, and Ivey will need more performances like this one to change his season-long fantasy value.

After attempting nine shots in Thursday’s loss to the Pacers, Beal was far more active on Saturday. With Devin Booker (groin) sidelined, he needed to be, and the performance against the Pistons was an encouraging one for fantasy managers. Beal’s 26 points were two shy of his season-high, and this was his first game with 20 or more since December 5. Booker is also out for Monday’s game in Denver, so expect another high-volume shooting night from Beal.

Cunningham is turning into a superstar this season. He had 28 points on 19 shots and got to the foul line and made 7-of-9 free throws. He had multiple steals and blocks and made three 3-pointers, including a dagger to put the Pistons up by seven with less than a minute left. Cunningham is a top-40 player in fantasy this season and even more valuable in turnover-punt builds.

Durant had an excellent night shooting the basketball, but things went haywire when the Pistons sent double-teams his way. He committed eight turnovers on the night, with three being offensive fouls. The good news for fantasy managers is that this hasn’t been the norm for Durant, who said he needed to be more patient working out of double-teams moving forward. Phoenix plays four games in Week 9, beginning with the Nuggets on Monday.

Harden wasn’t efficient with 19 points on 18 shots, including making only 2-of-9 attempts from behind the 3-point line. Even worse might’ve been that he turned the ball over seven times and had only three assists. Harden was -4 in 37 minutes in the 16-point loss to Dallas. He was probably due to regress after scoring 41 points on 17 shots Monday, but this wasn’t one of his better performances.

Powell has had at least 28 points in three straight games now. With Paul George in Philadelphia and Kawhi Leonard recovering, Powell has become an indispensable piece of the Clippers offense. Even with James Harden handling the ball, there’s plenty of room for Powell to continue scoring like this.

With Luka Doncic out, Irving jacked up a bunch of shots. He only had 16 points on a whopping 25 attempts in a pathetic shooting display. Irving had six assists and only turned the ball over one time. He was +12 in 38 minutes in the 16-point victory. He blew the opportunity for a big game with all of his misses.

Thompson can’t be counted on for rebounds and assists and this isn’t his best scoring season by a long shot. Still, in the games where he’s scoring, he’s going to hit some threes and there could be multiple steals. Klay didn’t even see increased usage with Luka Doncic out as he only took nine shots, he just had an efficient game. It probably would’ve been better if the shots weren’t so spread out in this one.