NBA Player News

The report said that Adams was “outstanding” in games last week, so it appears that he’ll be fully healthy heading into the preseason. He’ll fill in as the backup center behind Alperen Sengun, which was a weak point for the team last season. However, in a reserve role, Adams won’t make much of a fantasy impact unless Sengun misses a game.

Due to Karl-Anthony Towns’s contract size, New York has some shuffling to make the acquisition official. As a result, the Hornets entered the deal as the third team and will acquire DaQuan Jeffries. According to SNY, the Knicks may also have to include Duane Washington Jr. and Charlie Brown via sign-and-trade deals to get the Towns trade over the finish line. Bates-Diop wouldn’t impact fantasy basketball in New York, which will likely remain true in Minnesota.

The 19th overall pick in this summer’s draft, Walter injured his shoulder during an informal workout during the week. He’ll sit out training camp, and the Raptors will provide an update on the rookie’s status after they conclude their time in Montreal. Walter’s fantasy outlook for this season isn’t great; he’d likely need the Raptors to fall out of postseason contention to become a factor in redraft leagues.

Jeffries is part of a three-team trade that includes Karl-Anthony Towns (New York), Julius Randle, and Donte DiVincenzo (Minnesota). Jeffries only appeared in 17 games for the Knicks last season and was essentially included in this deal to clear space for Towns’ salary. He is not going to impact fantasy basketball in Charlotte.

DiVincenzo is headed to Minnesota as part of the Towns trade after a stellar postseason performance for the shorthanded Knicks. With the addition of Mikal Bridges, he was likely headed to the bench in New York. While DiVincenzo stands to be a reserve in Minnesota, there may be more room for him to operate as a critical scoring option for the second unit. His fantasy status doesn’t change much regarding where the “Big Ragu” should be drafted, but his ceiling has been raised despite being ticketed for a bench role.

After five seasons in the Big Apple, Randle is reportedly headed back to the Western Conference. According to Charania, the package headed to Minnesota includes Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, and the deal has not been officially finalized just yet. Before a season-ending shoulder injury in late January, Randle averaged 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists. There are questions regarding offensive spacing in Minnesota, but Randle may be a better positional fit at power forward. How good of a fantasy asset he is with the Timberwolves will depend on Randle’s 3-point shooting ability, especially playing off of Anthony Edwards.

While the news may have surprised many, there had been rumblings for quite some time that Towns could be a target for the Knicks. Playing alongside Rudy Gobert capped KAT’s fantasy value; that won’t be the case in the Big Apple, especially with Mitchell Robinson (ankle) sidelined until December or January. Fantasy managers may not get the “first-round Towns” that he was pre-Gobert trade, but he should be an excellent option as the featured big man in New York.

Williams suffered the injury during a workout on Thursday and will miss the Hornets’ entire training camp. The Hornets center will have a little under one month before the start of the regular season, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be fully cleared by then. Not only does this news knock Williams down a few pegs in drafts, but it also increases the short-term value of Nick Richards. Depending on the timing of the draft and the next Williams injury update, Richards may be worth a late-round flier in deep leagues.

After serving primarily as a reserve during his first four seasons, Mann was a fixture in the starting lineup in 2023-24. Starting 71 of 75 games, he averaged 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.9 3-pointers in 25.0 minutes. Mann didn’t offer great fantasy value last season. Still, Paul George’s departure and questions regarding Kawhi Leonard’s knee make him worthy of a late-round look in some leagues.

In addition to stars Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant only playing 863 minutes together last season, the Suns were also done in by their lack of a “true” point guard. The offseason signings of Jones and Monte Morris were meant to address this issue, with Budenholzer making it clear that the former would be a starter. “Certainly, we feel like Tyus has established himself as a great starting point guard in our league, and he will be our starter,” Budenholzer told NBA.com. “When you put him out there with Kevin, Brad, Book, and Nurk [Jusuf Nurkic], we feel like we’ve got a strong starting five. And a really strong bench behind them.” Jones being given that role means Grayson Allen will head to the bench after a career year, cutting into his fantasy value.

Bassey appeared in 19 games for the Spurs last season before a torn ACL put him on the shelf. The 2021-second-round pick agreed to a one-year deal with the Spurs in July, but he is not expected to figure prominently in the frontcourt rotation. There’s no need to consider drafting Bassey.