Danny Green cleared the league's health and safety protocols and is available to play Saturday vs. the Nuggets.
As pointed out by Adrian Wojnarowski, the fact that Green has cleared the protocols doesn't necessarily mean that he'll play on Saturday. He should at least be available for the Sixers' upcoming four-game week, though, and could have a ton of minutes headed his way with so many guys out of commission for at least seven days.
Kelly Oubre was limited to six points, five rebounds, one steal and three turnovers in 21 minutes of action on Friday.
The Warriors trailed by 22 points in this game, but Steph Curry's brilliance and a strong bench effort helped erase the deficit and build a cushion in the fourth quarter. Head coach Steve Kerr stuck with what was working, which left Oubre watching the final 15 minutes from the bench. There's no reason to think this will become a trend, so deploy him as usual vs. the Raptors on Sunday.
Andrew Wiggins (bruised left quad) played 28 minutes during Friday's 115-105 win vs. the Clippers, scoring 16 points with six boards, one assist, one steal and one block.
Wiggins' quad didn't appear to be the reason for his low playing time, and he wasn't inefficient either with 5-of-10 FGs and 4-of-4 FTs. Rather, the Warriors' second unit just broke this game open and the starters (excluding Draymond Green and Stephen Curry) rode the bench for long stretches as a result. He should be ready to go vs. the visiting Raptors on Sunday.
Patrick Patterson was the lone DNP-CD for the Clippers on Friday.
Two-Pat was only rostered in the absolute deepest leagues anyway, and now that Marcus Morris is healthy he's on the wire everywhere. Leave him there.
Luke Kennard was quiet again on Friday with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, two 3-pointers, four rebounds, one assist and one block.
The block is Kennard's first defensive stat in the past seven games, a span of 165 minutes. Along with the fact that he's scored double-digit points twice all season, he's just not worth a roster spot in most fantasy settings. The Clippers can't be thrilled with their early return-on-investment either, considering they gave him a four-year, $64 million extension this offseason.
Lou Williams struggled again on Friday with six points on 3-of-6 shooting, one rebound and one block in 16 minutes.
Sweet Lou looks adrift at the moment, having scored single-digit points in four of L.A.'s five games in January. He's shooting 35.5% in that span, without enough supporting stats (1.0 rebounds, 3.0 dimes, 0.8 steals) to make up for the drag in the scoring categories. To make matters worse, the FT% dynamo hasn't even been to the line in three of the past four games. Give him another week or two, if you like, but it's time to consider pivoting to a promising free agent.
Wendell Carter had a season-high 23 points vs. the Lakers on Friday, adding seven rebounds, three assists and one turnover in 25 minutes.
He was able to do whatever he wanted with no Anthony Davis (adductor) tonight and finished 9-of-15 from the field, but didn't play in the clutch. According to coach Billy Donovan, he went with Thaddeus Young because he liked that the Bulls could hit Young with the pocket pass and let him attack when Lakers were aggressive defensively. He also cited the matchup with Montrezl Harrell as another reason. WCJ has been playing better since his awful start to the season but the defensive stats have disappeared and it's going to be hard for him to justify his ADP at this rate.
Terence Davis scored a season-high 18 points in 22 minutes off the bench Friday, hitting 7-of-13 shots with a 4-of-8 mark from downtown.
Davis added three assists and one rebound tonight, and the Kings' utter lack of defense deserves some credit for his performance. It also helped that Kyle Lowry (personal) was out tonight, bumping Norman Powell to the starting five and opening up more bench minutes for Davis. It was a perfect storm, in other words, so congrats if you managed to deploy him in deep leagues or DFS.
Thaddeus Young had a strong showing vs. the Lakers on Friday with 15 points, seven rebounds, five dimes and one steal in 30 minutes.
Lauri Markkanen (COVID-19 contact tracing) will miss at least one more game, and Otto Porter left tonight's game after six minutes with back spasms. Young closed this game out because coach Billy Donovan said he liked that his Bulls could hit Young with the pocket pass and let him attack when Lakers were aggressive defensively, and he has said many times that he likes Young as a playmaker. He's going to be hard to trust over the long haul but looks like a good streamer vs. the Clippers on Sunday.
Aron Baynes was a healthy DNP-CD vs. the Kings on Friday.
Baynes has squandered a favorable spot as the Raptors' starting centre, entering this game with averages of 5.3 points on 37.8% shooting, 5.7 boards, 0.6 assists and 0.1 steals in 19.3 minutes. His fantasy irrelevance can be summed up by the fact that he's failed to block a single shot in 193 minutes this season (and counting), and was benched in favor of Alex Len tonight. The Raptors could also go smaller at center and start Norman Powell, according to coach Nick Nurse. If you haven't cut him yet, what are you waiting for?
Alex Len started on Friday but was benched after halftime, finishing with zero stats to his credit in five minutes of action.
Len had a brief dalliance with fantasy value on Dec. 31 when he scored 11 points and shot 3-of-3 from deep. We assumed that was a mirage, and sure enough he's averaging 1.0 point in four January games. There's no obvious path to relevance for the Raptors' seven-footer.
Harrison Barnes tied his career high with eight assists on Friday, adding 21 points (6-of-8 FGs, 7-of-10 FTs) with four boards, two 3-pointers and one steal.
Barnes had eight dimes earlier this season and he's also handed out five on multiple occasions. That's boosted him to a career-high 3.2 dimes per game, to go along with a career-high 7.1 rebounds and 0.8 steals per game. His scoring is up at 17.0 points per game, too, and he's playing a career-high 35.1 minutes in his ninth NBA season. It seems doubtful that he'll sustain this pace all season, but fantasy managers aren't complaining as their late-round pick cruises along with mid-round value.
Richaun Holmes (ankle) finished Friday's 144-123 home loss with 10 points, three blocks, two assists and one steal in 24 minutes.
Holmes fell in fantasy drafts due to the presence of Hassan Whiteside (DNP-CD), and managers who accepted the risk have been loving life through the first weeks of the season. He's been a top-50 asset in 9-cat leagues with averages of 13.3 points, 8.4 boards, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks, all anchored by 69.2% FGs, 84.2% FTs and just 1.4 turnovers.
De'Aaron Fox (right hamstring tightness) played 25 minutes on Friday, scoring 23 points on 9-of-11 FGs and 5-of-7 FTs with three dimes, two steals and one block.
Fox was on a minutes restriction tonight but his fantasy managers won't complain. Hamstring injuries are notoriously easy to aggravate, but fortunately the injury he sustained on Wednesday has been described as 'tightness' and not a strain. He looked as quick as ever tonight and presumably the low minutes were intended to let him also play in the second half of this back-to-back set vs. Portland on Saturday. If you're eyeing him in DFS despite the hamstring issue and minute-limit, be sure to confirm his status prior to lineups locking.
Markieff Morris got a fill-in start for Anthony Davis (adductor) on Friday vs. the Bulls, scoring 11 points with six rebounds, one block and one triple in 29 minutes.
This was the second night of a back-to-back and coach Frank Vogel confirmed before the game that Davis was rested as a precaution. Morris played 14 or fewer minutes in his previous four games, and this is a reminder that the next time Davis sits, Morris just doesn't have the greatest upside these days.
Wesley Matthews drew a start on Friday vs. the Bulls and fared well, scoring 14 points (4-of-8 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs) with two rebounds, one assist, one block and four triples in 34 minutes.
Don't chase this line, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (ankle) is expected back next game in addition to Anthony Davis (adductor). Matthews was only getting 20 minutes per night before this for 5.2 points. Plus, it's a matter of time before Talen Horton-Tucker gets more involved.
Hassan Whiteside was a DNP-CD during the Kings' loss on Friday, but coach Luke Walton said afterward that he "might have to make some changes."
Walton said he's avoided playing Whiteside because he wants to push the pace, which begs the question -- why did the Kings sign him in the first place? Regardless, it sounds like Walton is reconsidering his center rotation after getting shredded for 144 points by a struggling Raptors team missing All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry. Whiteside doesn't need many minutes to make a big fantasy impact, so consider stashing him if a frustrated GM cut him loose. Just don't make a painful cut to get him, as you may end up ditching him a week from now anyway.
Khris Middleton had a strong showing vs. the Jazz in a losing effort on Friday, going 11-of-19 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line with 10 rebounds, four assists, three triples and two turnovers in 36 minutes.
He's been incredible this season, as he's on pace for top-20 value in 9-cat for the first time in his career. Middleton is also on pace to join the 50/40/90 club, something he narrowly missed last season. He'll get a matchup with the Cavaliers on Saturday.
Bojan Bogdanovic got himself going vs. the Bucks on Friday with 20 points (7-of-16 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), five rebounds, three assists, four triples and three turnovers in 30 minutes.
He was actually dropped in quite a few leagues after scoring a combined 10 points in his previous two games. Bojan was a top-100 player in 9-cat last season on the back of his production in points (20.2) and triples (3.0), and the reason for his slow start this time around is that he's still finding his rhythm after offseason right wrist surgery. Tonight was hopefully a sign of better days ahead.
Bobby Portis cooled off vs. the Jazz on Friday, going 1-of-5 from the field for two points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
Portis' fantasy managers shouldn't overreact here, as he's been a surprise 6th-round fantasy value entering tonight with 11.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.6 blocks and 0.9 triples. The Bucks get a tasty matchup vs. the Cavaliers on Saturday and could rest or monitor the minutes of their studs, so we recommend holding onto Portis.