NBA Player News

Simmons won’t play in the second half of a back-to-back after flirting with a double-double in a win against the Bucks on Thursday. Williams will miss his 10th consecutive game. Shake Milton will likely get a chance to handle more on-ball duties with Simmons out of the picture.

Barnes had at least 20 points for the second time in his last four games and made at least three 3-pointers for the third time in his last four games. Still, the 32-year-old power forward hasn’t been fantasy relevant this season and will need to show more before he’s worth rostering this year.

Wemby dropped 35 on the Nuggets Friday, but he wasn’t quite as sharp in the rematch against Nikola Jokic Saturday. The 21-year-old power forward had just 20 points on 19 shots, though he filled up the rest of the stat sheet with 23 rebounds, four blocks and two 3-pointers. Wembanyama has certainly picked up his play over the last month, but Jokic is still the top player in fantasy on the season.

Porter Jr. has now scored at least 21 points in five straight games and seven of his last eight games. His 28 points Saturday were bested only by teammate Nikola Jokic, who had 46. Porter Jr. also had a double-double with 10 rebounds. He’s provided sixth round fantasy value on the season.

Jokic scored 41 points in Friday’s loss to the Spurs so he increased his total to 46 points and the Nuggets pulled out the win in overtime in the rematch Saturday. Jokic was one rebound shy of a triple-double and needed 35 shots to get his 46 points, though it’s understandable as Victor Wembanyama is a difficult defensive matchup. Jokic continues his reign as the top player in fantasy this year.

Utah had won just six games all season entering Saturday’s game against the Heat. Still, it’s no surprise that the Jazz were able to come out and wipe the floor with Miami after the disfunction that’s gone on in the organization over the last week. From the altercation Herro had with Amen Thompson and subsequent fines and suspensions to the ongoing saga with Jimmy Butler, who is away from the team once again. This is no environment for fantasy success right now. Herro wasn’t the only one to have a bad game, but he was a team-worst -28 in 29 minutes in the 36-point loss.

Stat lines like the one he recorded against the Knicks are what fantasy managers hoped for after Giddey was traded to Chicago during the offseason. He made all three of his 3-point attempts, recording a complete stat line and finishing two assists shy of a triple-double. Over the past two weeks, Giddey has provided top 40 per-game value in 9-cat formats. He’ll look to continue on this run when the Bulls host San Antonio on Monday.

Vucevic has recorded a double-double in four straight and seven of his last eight games. While the Bulls continue to hang around in the play-in tournament slots, Vooch and Zach LaVine’s names have come up in trade rumors. There may not be a change anytime soon, and Vucevic will continue to provide reliable fantasy value as long as he’s manning the middle for the Bulls.