NBA Player News

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.

Since returning from a two-game absence with a hamstring issue, Murray has been on a tear. He has been playing some of his best basketball of the season and has averaged 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.3 steals and 3.0 triples per game while shooting 45.9% from the line during the last three games. That is a 3% improvement on his season-long field goal percentage while taking four extra shots per game, which has resulted in some excellent nights. He’ll look to carry this production into New Orleans to wrap up the week on Sunday.

With Christian Braun back after a one-game absence, Westbrook returned to playing a role off the bench. However, he was still able to make an impact on this game, especially late in the fourth. He had a big block on Anfernee Simons that set up a dunk for Michael Porter Jr. that gave Denver a late lead. It wasn’t enough to help them win, and he wasn’t able to put up the same numbers that he did during his recent starts. However, Westbrook is playing far better than he did for either Los Angeles team and will continue to be an important reserve piece for the Nuggets.

This wasn’t a typical Jokic masterclass. Sure, he was still unstoppable as a scorer, and he scored 10 of his 34 in the fourth, which included a late layup to tie the game. However, he set a new season-low for rebounds and failed to record a double-double for just the fourth time this season. Managers shouldn’t be worried, since he is still arguably the best player in fantasy basketball. They’ll close out the week in New Orleans on Sunday before a four-game week after that. Jokic will have plenty of dominant nights during that stretch.

Huerter only missed one game after injuring the shoulder operated on in the spring, which was a positive for the Kings. However, he has offered limited fantasy value this season, which remained the case on Thursday. Rostered in 8% of Yahoo leagues, Huerter is ranked outside the top 150 in 8- and 9-cat formats. Unless he’s moved back into the starting lineup, the value is unlikely to improve anytime soon.

Avdija started the year on a major shooting slump, but the last few games have been the exact opposite. He has shot better than 60% from the floor in three straight games and has shot at least 50% in six of their last seven. Though he didn’t do it in this game, Avdija typically can contribute enough in other categories to make him an effective fantasy option, though the added efficiency tear has done wonders for his value. Even in a reserve role, Avdija has been and will continue to be a reliable player in fantasy basketball.

Murray returned to the Kings lineup after sitting out Monday’s loss to the Nuggets, recording a complete stat line in 35 minutes. While the fantasy value hasn’t been what many fantasy managers expected, he has been a top-100 player in 9-cat formats. Starting alongside De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan, and Domantas Sabonis limits Murray’s ceiling, but his floor should hold steady. With Murray back in the lineup on Thursday, Doug McDermott played one minute after starting against the Nuggets.

While the Kings remain below .500 record-wise, Monk has been huge for fantasy managers. Over the past three weeks, he has provided 3rd-round value in 8- and 9-cat formats. The move into the starting lineup gives him a better chance of sustaining that value, even with ball-dominant options De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, and Domantas Sabonis on the floor.

Sabonis finished Thursday’s game one assist shy of a triple-double while blocking two shots. He’s exceeded his Yahoo ADP (15), providing top 10 per-game value in 8- and 9-cat formats. And with Trey Lyles sidelined, the Kings have routinely pushed Sabonis into the high 30s in minutes, surpassing 40 in some instances. While that’s good news for fantasy managers in the short term, getting Sabonis some relief may benefit him later in the season.

Sharpe had a pair of 30-point games in November, but over the past month, he hasn’t been as successful. However, that changed in this game, and he was able to contribute some rebounds and assists while doing. Sharpe is a bit of a one-trick pony in category leagues, since points and 3-pointers have been the main areas that he has provided value in. The defensive numbers won’t ever be there, but if he can contribute like he did in this game while maintaining the scoring, the rest of it won’t matter.

Fox scored 25 points or more in two straight games, which he had not done since November 22-24. That run was part of a six-game streak of 25 points or more, including a 60-point performance in a November 15 loss to the Timberwolves. Unfortunately for the Kings, they are now 3-9 in games where Fox has scored at least 25 points. They’ll look to bounce back when they host the Lakers on Saturday.