NBA Player News

Selected by the Pelicans with the 41st overall pick in the 2022 draft, Liddell has yet to get his NBA career off the ground. An ACL tear suffered during summer league play robbed him of the 2022-23 campaign, and he was limited to eight appearances with the Pelicans this past season. Liddell was traded twice during the summer, first to Atlanta as part of the Dejounte Murray deal and then to Phoenix in exchange for David Roddy. The Suns waived Liddell on August 21. With Liddell likely on an Exhibit 10 contract and the Bulls having 14 players on guaranteed deals, he faces long odds to make the opening night roster.

Williams got the starting nod in place of Jalen Williams, which was to help the Thunder match up better with the Cavs’ big frontcourt. Kenrich Williams will start in place of Jaylin Williams to start the second half and should receive a nice boost in playing time if he remains the starter beyond this game.

Johnson produced another excellent stat line, finishing with his 28th double-double of the season. At this time last season, which is about when a shoulder injury sidelined him for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign, the Hawks forward had 20 double-doubles. Included in Monday’s stat line were 16 rebounds, two shy of his season and career-high. Look for Johnson to continue to flourish, and it would be unsurprising if he were named an All-Star reserve later this month.

Looking to give the bench unit a spark, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers moved Porter to the bench, with Kyle Kuzma moving into the starting lineup. While he didn’t score much, KPJ’s seven assists were valuable. As for Kuzma, he accounted for 10 points, one rebound, one assist, one block and one three-pointer. Porter moving to the bench is disappointing from a fantasy standpoint, but managers must hold onto him. The playing time will still be there.

Turner’s making four three-pointers in Monday’s victory was not a surprise, as he is one of the best perimeter-shooting bigs in the NBA. However, the veteran center was more productive on the glass than he’s been for most of this season. The eight boards were the most in a game for Turner in nearly two months, having last reached that number on November 26. Unfortunately, fantasy managers can’t count on Turner for consistent rebounding production.

A double-digit scorer in five straight games, Portis’ 19 points were the most he’s had in a game since dropping 20 in a January 2 win over the Hornets. While there wasn’t much rebounding production to be had, the veteran forward had a good afternoon shooting the basketball. Portis has only exceeded 25 minutes in two of the seven games he’s played this month, and the playing time does more harm to his fantasy ceiling than being used in a reserve role. That said, he should still be rostered in 14-team leagues.

Antetokounmpo’s playing time is still being restricted, with the Bucks’ forward limited to 30 minutes on Monday. The good news for fantasy managers was that Giannis still recorded a robust stat line, with the low free-throw percentage being the only issue. However, most fantasy managers understand that the poor foul shooting comes with the territory when rostering Antetokounmpo.

Hart is back after a one-game absence, which is excellent news for the Knicks and for fantasy managers. His return means that Mohamed Diawara will head back to the bench, and the rookie is not worth rostering in redraft leagues.