NBA Player News

No surprise here as Williams was initially listed as probable with low back tightness. The 25-year-old point guard will return after a one-game absence. Williams figures to move back into the starting lineup while Spencer Dinwiddie heads back to the bench.

The former Gonzaga star went undrafted in 2023 and has been working hard in the G League to earn a spot in the NBA. After being named G League Player of the Week, Timme earned a standard contract with Brooklyn. It will be a good opportunity for him over the final couple weeks of the regular season, but it’s likely an indication of how the Nets want the rest of the season to play out. They are currently tied with Philadelphia for the fifth-best lottery odds despite both teams being on lengthy losing streaks. Don’t be surprised if Brooklyn fully pulls the plug on veterans such as Nic Claxton, D’Angelo Russell and Cameron Johnson soon.

After missing Sacramento’s last three games, Monk made his return to the rotation on Thursday. He was listed as a starter and even announced as one in the arena, but he ended up coming off the bench, with Keon Ellis remaining in the starting lineup. Ellis ended up playing 31 minutes to Monk’s 17 and contributing 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, six steals, one block and two triples. It’s unclear if Ellis will continue to start, or if Monk is still getting his conditioning back after dealing with an illness. This is a situation worth keeping an eye on.

This game was all about buckets for LaVine, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing at this point. Outside of the two rebounds he grabbed, he didn’t contribute any value for fantasy managers, scoring aside. However, he scored less than 20 points in each of Sacramento’s last four games, and he was incredibly efficient with his shot on Thursday. Sure, it would be nice if he did more than score, but he won’t put up goose eggs in nearly every other category like he did in this game often. Still, he’ll look to keep the offense flowing during their upcoming six-game road trip against Eastern Conference teams, which starts in Orlando on Saturday.

Sabonis was quiet against Oklahoma City on Tuesday as a scorer, but he continues to be a dominant force on the glass. Through his first three games back after the ankle injury that forced him to miss three games, Sabonis has averaged 16 boards. Unfortunately, he has missed nine games since the All-Star break and has exited early from two of the games that he played in. That helps explain why this was Sabonis’ highest-scoring night since February 13. He’ll look to stay hot in Orlando on Saturday to wrap up the week.

Avdija cooled off a bit after back-to-back 30-point performances, but he was able to lead Portland in scoring on Thursday despite the loss. Still, over the past two weeks, Avdija has averaged 22.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, one steal and 3.4 triples per game, which has him ranked inside the top 20 in nine-cat scoring during this stretch. He’ll look to keep it going in New York on Sunday to close out the week. He had 27 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to the Knicks earlier this month.

Sharpe continues to start with Jerami Grant (knee) still sidelined. Hopefully you aren’t holding out hope that Grant is going to return this season. Sharpe has taken advantage of the opportunity and has scored at least 20 points in three of his last four appearances. The rebounding numbers have been decent, but he struggles to provide value in multiple categories, which limits his value outside of points formats. Still, this development is important for a player with loads of upside that will turn 22 in at the end of May. Dynasty managers still have reason for optimism.

Despite success late last season, Reath wasn’t able to carve out a spot in the rotation for most of this year with Portland. However, he has taken on a larger role in the month of March, which allowed him to set a new season-high with 17 points on Thursday. He scored in double figures in three straight games last week but scored a total of eight points across their last two games entering Thursday. He played 28 minutes to Donovan Clingan’s 18, which isn’t a trend that will stick with any consistency, making it difficult to justify rostering Reath despite him playing well on Thursday.

He wasn’t able to keep his streak of 35-point games alive, but this was another spectacular showing for one of the hottest players in basketball. He scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, including a triple with six seconds left in the game that gave Chicago a lead after they trailed by 18 points earlier in the period. White has provided top-25 value in nine-cat formats over the past two weeks with averages of 29.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.4 triples per game, and he’ll look to stay hot against the Mavericks on Saturday.

Huerter rebounded from Monday’s nine-point performance in a big way on Thursday. He reached 20 points for the second time in Chicago’s last four games, and after only hitting one triple over their two previous games, Huerter knocked down five of them as the Bulls won their fourth-straight game. Huerter also hit the 1,000th three-pointer of his career, which is a special milestone for the 26-year-old sharpshooter. He’ll look to carry this momentum into a matchup with Dallas on Saturday to wrap up the week.

Since returning from seven-game absence due to a calf injury, James has been quiet as a scorer. He has scored less than 20 points in three of his last four games, and he barely held on to his lengthy streak of double digit games on Wednesday. He’ll get things clicking eventually, and he was able to make up for it with 12 dimes on Thursday, which was the most he has had in a game since early February. Unfortunately, the only things people will remember from this game will be LeBron turning it over late and then Josh Giddey hitting the game-winner from half court over James’ outstretched hand.