NBA Player News

After scoring no more than 13 points in any of Minnesota’s first seven games, McDaniels broke out on Thursday. He made all four of his 3-point attempts and finished with a season-high 19 points after scoring 16 on 6-of-19 shooting in the two games prior. McDaniels’ limited offensive production lowers his fantasy ceiling, but Thursday was a reminder that he can be an asset, especially in deep leagues.

Crowder has only appeared in one game since December 5, playing six minutes in a December 16 loss to the Nuggets. He’ll only have a shot at rotation minutes on nights when the Kings are without DeMar DeRozan.

After sitting out the second leg of a back-to-back on Friday in Boston, Nembhard was back in the lineup for the rematch. He enjoyed a ton of success against the Celtics in the playoffs last season, and he was able to somewhat replicate that in this game. While Nembhard has taken a step forward from last season, he hasn’t been able to take the leap that managers were expecting him to after his playoff run. However, he has been a top-100 player in 9-cat leagues over the past two weeks, which is hopefully a sign of things to come. They only have three games next week, starting on Tuesday against the Bucks.

Since being cleared for full activity, Carter has seen some action with Sacramento’s G League affiliate. However, he isn’t ready to make his NBA debut just yet. His continued absence will not impact fantasy basketball, as Carter was not in the rotation.

Two games removed from scoring just four points in a loss, Haliburton was able to have one of his best offensive nights of the season. This was just his fifth 30-point performance this year, and it helped them secure a win in Boston two days after they lost there by 37 points. It was a really slow start to the season for Haliburton, but he is already back inside the top-25 in 9-cat scoring. Sure, it’s still terrible for a player that was drafted in the first round, but he is starting to get back to the dominant fantasy player that we know he can be.

Lively has missed Dallas’ last two games, resulting in more minutes for Daniel Gafford. With Lively sidelined, DG has played 29 and 28 minutes, slightly boosting his value. Dwight Powell has entered the rotation but has not played enough to merit being streamed with Lively sidelined.

Dillingham’s continued absences means Nickeil Alexander-Walker will continue to serve as Mike Conley’s sole backup. NAW is only worthy of consideration in extremely deep leagues.

Brown wasn’t able to replicate his season-high 44 points from Friday’s game against the Pacers, but he was able to have another big scoring night. However, the difference was that it wasn’t enough for them to get a win. Brown still had an excellent night for fantasy managers, and he has been shooting the ball well over their last few games despite a slow start to the season. Brown has still been a great option in 9-cat leagues because he has improved in other areas, so if his shooting percentage continues to rise, his 9-cat value should skyrocket.

Banton has missed four of the team’s last five games, which has allowed Scoot Henderson to play a few extra minutes off the bench. If Banton returns for this one, Henderson, who has been playing well, will lose out on a few minutes.

Williams has missed Portland’s last three games with a sprained ankle, and he’s only made three appearances since November 25. His availability impacts fellow reserve Donovan Clingan the most, as Deandre Ayton is a near-lock to play 30-plus minutes as the starter. Clingan doesn’t offer much fantasy value now, but that may change after the trade deadline.

Camara did not play in Saturday’s win over Dallas, with Deni Avdija replacing him in the starting lineup. Already rostered in most standard leagues, Avdija will merit streaming consideration in some shallow formats if Camara cannot play on Monday.