NBA Player News

Curry has missed five games this season, most recently sitting out the Warriors’ December 5 win over the Rockets. His absence would significantly impact the rotation, with Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski taking on more prominent roles within the offense. Both players are already rostered in most standard leagues, with Hield being a little easier to find on waiver wires.

Durant reached the 30-point mark for the eighth time this season and set a new season high. The Suns star also notched just his second double-double of the 2024-25 campaign. Injuries have not slowed down his volume or efficiency this season.

Young recorded his fifth straight double-double and had his eighth game with at least 15 assists this season in the loss. Trae has taken fewer shots this season and made a lower percentage of them, which has resulted in his scoring taking a hot. However, he has shot better over his last few games, and the numbers have reflected that. Regardless of the scoring, Young still leads the league in assists, and his commitment to facilitation has benefitted the team. Trae should end the year with the assist crown for the first time in his career.

Giddey injured his ankle during Monday’s win over the Raptors and did not play in Boston. His postgame quote suggests the Bulls point guard will also sit out Friday’s rematch in Chicago. As for the hope of playing on Monday, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before Thursday’s game that Giddey still hadn’t been cleared to resume running. If he doesn’t play on Monday, the next opportunity would be December 26 in Atlanta.

Siakam’s scoring and rebounding powered the Pacers to a win. He’s scored more than 20 points in three straight contests and set a season-high rebounding mark on Thursday. The star forward’s production has driven his team’s three-game winning streak.

For the first time this season, Vassell was part of the starting unit. He played a season-high 38 minutes, and his 33 minutes in regulation would have still been a season-high. Vassell is a beast in fantasy basketball, but he hasn’t played a large enough role this season to make the impact that he’s capable of making. As long as he remains in the starting lineup, Vassell will be a borderline top-50 option in 9-cat leagues. Julian Champagnie was still able to log 26 minutes despite the move to the bench and finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two 3-pointers.

An extended absence put a damper on Sochan’s season, but he has been fantastic, especially since returning. He has had at least three stocks in four straight games and continues to provide points, rebounds and assists. The free throw perecentage continues to be iffy, and he isn’t much of a threat from deep, but he has been productive in every other category. Sochan is somehow available in 40% of Yahoo leagues, but he will continue to be a top-100 player for the rest of the season.

Dinwiddie was productive in his spot start but was far from efficient from the field. The Mavericks guard has been getting more opportunities to contribute off the bench as of late, but his streakiness makes it hard to count on his fantasy value on a week-to-week basis.

Wemby did a little bit of everything to help the Spurs beat the Hawks in overtime. He took over late and scored 10 points in the fourth quarter before adding eight more in overtime. The defensive numbers are expected, but this was his second-highest mark of the season in both points and 3-pointers. Wemby will continue to be one of the best players in fantasy basketball, and this stat line shows just how unique his skillset is. The rebounds were a bit lower than normal, but he’ll look to get back on track with Portland coming to town on Saturday.

Thompson attempted to lift Dallas without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving but fell short despite his strong scoring performance. His scoring average is the lowest it’s been since his rookie season and his efficiency has been down as well since relocating from Golden State.

Green did most of his work in the third quarter of this game. He scored 22 points in the period, which was the highest-scoring quarter of his career. With how well Amen Thompson has played, there have been plenty of questions about how long Green will maintain the starting shooting guard job. Consistency has always been the issue for Green, since he is capable of performances like this, but he had 12 points on sub 40% shooting in each of their last two games. Managers should enjoy this stat line, but don’t expect this to continue to be the norm.