NBA Player News

Sheppard is good to go after the Pacers listed him as questionable on the initial injury report. While he will be in the rotation, the second-year guard is unlikely to get the minutes needed to impact fantasy basketball.

If Drummond is ruled out, expect Guerschon Yabusele to absorb his backup minutes behind Joel Embiid.

Williamson hasn’t played since November 6, and he’s appeared in only six games this season. With a 5-25 record and their playoff hopes dwindling, the Pels are unlikely to rush the injury-prone Williamson back.

Ingram was dubbed ‘out indefinitely’ as of December 8, so this update on his status at least gives us some sort of timeline for an eventual return. Expect Brandon Boston Jr. and Trey Murphy III (day-to-day with a left ankle injury) to continue seeing extended run in Ingram’s absence.

The third-year man appeared in 14 games for the Heat this season and posted career highs across the board. It’s a gut-wrenching injury for a player so close to earning a standard contract. Smith averaged just over 19 minutes per game for Miami, and that playing time could be absorbed in part by Pelle Larsson.

Just when it seemed like Father Time had won, LeBron answered back. He has been fantastic over their last two games and recorded his eighth triple-double of the season in this game. It wasn’t enough for them to get a win, and it was LeBron’s triple that came up just short at the end of the game. Still, fantasy managers have to be thrilled that James has gotten back to putting up dominant numbers. Any sort of buy-low period for him has been slammed shut with his recent performances. He’ll look to keep it going against the Warriors on Christmas Day.

AD’s scoring has been down over their last few games, but that hasn’t prevented him from making his mark in 9-cat leagues. He didn’t have a great night from the free throw line in this one, which resulted in him scoring less than 20 points for the second straight game and for the seventh time this season. Still, AD has been one of the best players in fantasy basketball this season, and a few subpar scoring nights won’t change that. He’ll look to get back on track in the scoring department against the Warriors on Christmas Day.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Once again, Beasley came off the bench, played 26 minutes, made five 3-pointers and had 21 points. The five rebounds and two steals only add to the fantasy value he’s providing. Beasley has to be rostered in more leagues where fantasy managers need points and threes because he continues to get them in bunches.

Cunningham has been great this year, but this wasn’t one of his better games. The 23-year-old point guard didn’t shoot well against the Lakers Monday as he had 20 points on 25 shots. Despite dishing out 10 assists, he also turned it over five times. Cunningham is a top-40 fantasy player on the season and even more valuable in turnover-punt builds, which was exemplified again Monday.

This was a sixth straight start for Christie, but prior to this game, he hadn’t been a reliable source of offense for them. However, he set a new season-high for points in this game and still provided his typical dose of steals. Christie has fit into this starting unit flawlessly, and even if he isn’t a great fantasy option, he has fit exactly what the Lakers need from that spot. This type of performance is helpful in category leagues, but he needs to do this more consistently before managers consider him a must-add player.

On a night when Stephen Curry scored just 10 points, Kuminga kept the Warriors in the game. The 22-year-old power forward came off the bench and poured in 26 points. Kuminga has found his name thrown around in trade rumors for Jimmy Butler, but it’s on nights like Monday that it’s plain to see why the Warriors would prefer to hold onto him.