NBA Player News

Williamson and Missi are back and will be in the starting lineup for Monday’s game. Their returns mean Bruce Brown and Karlo Matkovic head to the bench, lowering the fantasy ceilings of both players. While Brown and Matkovic can provide deep-league value as reserves, neither is a must-hold.

Okongwu has missed four straight games due to personal reasons, but he will presumably miss the rest of the season with a ligament injury in the fourth metacarpal of his left hand. Capela’s minutes as backup center will likely be absorbed primarily by Dominick Barlow, though Barlow is not a recommended streaming option for fantasy hoops managers.

Springer will miss his ninth game across Utah’s last 10, so his absence isn’t too meaningful in the world of fantasy hoops. Mykhailiuk will return from a two-game absence and presumably handle his typical workload.

Clarkson’s late addition to the injury report puts his status for Friday’s matchup in question. If he’s unable to go, Keyonte George and Collin Sexton could help to fill his vacated minutes.

Garrett is on a 10-day contract and may have already played his last game with Charlotte, and Salaun hasn’t played since March 8. Charlotte will be sorely shorthanded in this one, so the Hornets’ available players will be forced to handle additional minutes.

Bane is a late addition to the injury report, so fantasy managers should keep a close eye on his status leading up to tip-off. Ja Morant has already been ruled out, so Bane’s absence could mean more playing time for Jaylen Wells and Scotty Pippen Jr. alongside Luke Kennard and the rest of Memphis’ starting five.

Williams and Ball both played in Thursday’s win over the Knicks, so it’s no surprise that the pair will sit out the second leg of Charlotte’s back-to-back set. Jusuf Nurkic should slide into the starting five in place of Williams, while Ball’s vacated minutes will be picked up by some combination of Nick Smith Jr., DaQuan Jeffries and Seth Curry.

Curry suffered a pelvic contusion on Thursday against Toronto, as confirmed by an MRI. He will miss Saturday’s matchup with Atlanta but, depending on the results of Monday’s re-evaluation, he could return Tuesday to face the Heat. While Curry is out, Buddy Hield, Gary Payton II and Brandin Podziemski should see increased playing time.

Wiggins is expected to return after a two-game absence, and he should handle his normal workload as a member of the starting five. Haywood Highsmith has seen a bump in playing time over the last two, with Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. logging some extra minutes as well. Highsmith’s playing time will be most negatively impacted by Wiggins’ return.

Bey tore his ACL over a year ago and hasn’t played an NBA game since March 10, 2024. The G League assignment means he’s likely nearing a return, but it’s unclear if he’ll see any game action with the parent club this season. If Bey sees the court before the end of the 2024-25 campaign, he will surely be on a minutes restriction and not worth a look in fantasy basketball leagues.

This is a new injury for Williamson who has appeared in two straight games for New Orleans. In his absence, Jeremiah Robinson=Earl and Karlo Matkovic could see a bump in playing time. The Pels play a back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday, and fantasy managers should keep an eye on Williamson’s status for that pair of contests.