Karlo

Matkovic

Robinson-Earl was playing rotation minutes before his illness, which sidelined the Pelicans forward for Thursday’s game against the Kings. However, JRE’s absence will not impact fantasy basketball. The same can be said for Matkovic, who has missed New Orleans’ last five games and was not in the rotation when healthy.

Initially questionable for Saturday’s game, Theis and Matkovic are officially out. These absences leaves Yves Missi as the lone healthy center in the current rotation, and the rookie should play many minutes. Trey Jemison can come off the bench, but he is not worth streaming in fantasy leagues.

Neither Theis nor Matkovic has done enough to impact fantasy basketball this season, with the latter not even in the rotation on most nights. Theis has served as Yves Missi’s backup and should only be streamed when the rookie is not available. Missi is not on Saturday’s injury report, so Theis’ availability will not impact fantasy basketball.

Missi will not play after being listed as questionable on the initial injury report. While Daniel Theis began the season as the starting center, he’s recently fallen out of the rotation. Rookie Karlo Matkovic may be the preferred replacement in the starting lineup, which would give him a shot at achieving some semblance of fantasy relevance.

Missi was one of the few typical starters that played in their last game, but now there is a chance that he sits out on Friday. Karlo Matkovic will likely have a chance to start, since Willie Green doesn’t seem interested in playing Daniel Theis. However, Matkovic is a fringe streaming option at best.

Theis was Willie Green’s choice to start at center in Monday’s preseason opener, with the veteran pivot playing into the third quarter. Theis shot the ball well for the Pelicans, but there was likely a desire for more production on the glass. The competition between him, Yves Missi (five points, five rebounds, two steals, and one block in 16 minutes), and Karlo Matkovic (two rebounds in eight minutes) is one to track throughout the preseason, as the starter may be worth a late-round flier in some fantasy leagues. If Monday’s minutes distribution offered any clues, this appears to be a competition between Theis and Missi for the starting job.

While there were questions about what the Pelicans would do at the center position after losing Jonas Valanciunas in free agency, lead executive David Griffin sounded comfortable with the options at the team’s disposal. Matkovic, who played in 10 games for the franchise’s G League affiliate, was one of those options, and he’s played well enough to earn a standard contract. The third year of his deal will reportedly be a team option, and Matkovic could have value in deeper fantasy leagues this winter if he and rookie Yves Missi are ahead of Daniel Theis in the rotation.

Matković is a 6-foot-11 big man who played for Mega Mozzart of the Serbian Adriatic league. The Croatian averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 boards and he showed promise on both ends of the floor, but he’ll be stashed overseas as he continues to develop.