Kenneth

Faried

Faried played in Russia last season after failing to secure an NBA contract. He’ll work to get back to the league, but he probably won’t ever get back to producing enough to be worth a look in fantasy.

According to Charania and Slater, it’s common for Golden State to hold these types of workouts prior to training camp, so it’s hard to read too much into the team’s early September workouts. The Warriors have at least one roster spot available and potentially two if Andre Iguodala decides to retire. Of the players named in The Athletic’s report, McLemore would make the most sense thanks to his lights-out shooting from beyond the arc. Over the last four seasons, McLemore connected on 1.9 triples per game at a healthy 37.3% clip.

Faried played for the Blazers’ Summer League team in August and worked out for the Lakers last month, but was unable to ink an NBA contract.

Faried played for the Blazers’ Summer League team in an attempt to return to the NBA after most recently playing for the Guangsha Lions in China. His deficiencies as a player have grown more glaring over the years, and even if he makes an NBA roster he’s unlikely to earn minutes.

Now 31 years old, Faried last played for the Rockets. A high energy big man, he has career averages of 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.7 steals. Shams did not say what teams are interested, but he’d likely have a decent market with so many contenders in need of a big man.

Faried was absent from Wednesday’s game, but he’ll be back in uniform on the bench tonight. It’s unlikely he’ll play much more than five minutes, though.

Faried has played only five minutes in the second round, as Houston leans into a small-ball attack, so his absence shouldn’t impact the rotation. Hopefully he’s ready to return for Game 6 in Houston on Friday.

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni recently explained that he’s playing Kenneth Faried (11 points, six rebounds) ahead of Nene in this series because the Rockets “like to keep the lob threat on the floor at all times.” He said Nene could surface in the rotation if necessary, adding, “If we feel we’re getting pushed around, we’ll have Nene. If not, we’d rather be athletic.” Faried is a viable DFS punt play, but Nene isn’t likely to help owners even if he does crack the rotation.

The Rockets have perfected lobs to Capela and it’s an on-court riddle the Jazz and Rudy Gobert were unable to solve in Game 1. Capela wasn’t the only center to torch them, either, with Kenneth Faried adding 11 points (4-of-5 FGs) and six boards in 16 minutes off the bench. Head coach Mike D’Antoni said he wanted to keep a true center on the court at all times tonight, but Nene wound up as a DNP-CD. The Rockets ran away with a 32-point victory, of course, so it’s unlikely D’Antoni will change much for Game 2 on Wednesday.

Faried was in foul trouble for the second straight game, but that’s not of primary importance. The key is that he played in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, despite missing three straight games recently with a sore left knee. All signs point to Faried being ready to roll for the postseason.