NBA Player News

Morant missed Monday’s game against the Bulls, but should be back for the matchup with Brooklyn. He’s a locked in fantasy stud when healthy.

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.

Paul had 14 points on nine shots and was 3-of-7 from behind the three-point line in the loss. He was one assist shy of a double-double and had three turnovers. Paul was -9 in 26 minutes, but this is more or less what fantasy managers can expect from him this season. San Antonio will play Utah on the road in the second game of a back-to-back Thursday before a home game against Minnesota on Saturday.

Field goal percentage has been one of Williamson’s strongest categories throughout his career, but it has been a weakness for him early on this season. He has shot below 30% in three of his four appearances this year, though it seemed like he was going to get back on track after scoring 31 on 60% shooting on Tuesday. The double-double was helpful to retain some value, but there’s no denying that Zion has been one of the most disappointing players in fantasy basketball this season. He’ll look to get back on track against the Pacers on Friday before they play a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday.

With Herb Jones sidelined, the second-year guard was able to slide into the starting lineup in his place. Hawkins struggled with his shot in their previous game, but overall, he has gotten off to a hot start shooting the ball this year. On top of Herb’s injury, Trey Murphy and Dejounte Murray have also been sidelined, which has opened up a lot of minutes and shots for Hawkins. Long-term, Hawkins’ role will be reduced when the team gets healthy. However, managers should continue to ride the hot hand, especially if he continues to start and play big minutes.