Juan Toscano-Anderson started vs. the Bulls on Sunday, posting five points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in 19 minutes of action.
Draymond Green (foot) has practiced a few times but the Warriors are waiting until he regains conditioning before deploying him. He was out tonight and won't play on Tuesday, either, giving Toscano-Anderson a path to another start. Whether that's enough to deploy him in any fantasy setting is another question, as evidenced by tonight's pedestrian line.
Aaron Holiday scored just six points with two rebounds and three steals starting in place of Victor Oladipo on Sunday.
Holiday started again — this time in place of Oladipo — but hardly played more than he did in the Pacers' first two games, logging 22 minutes. Instead, Malcolm Brogdon played additional minutes (36) and increased his shot-taking (25 points on 11-of-20 shooting), and Justin Holiday scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with four rebounds. If Aaron Holiday takes Oladipo's place in future back-to-back rest games, he's far from a must-play for fantasy managers.
Bobby Portis played well vs. his former Knicks team on Sunday, scoring a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Portis did his level best in 26 minutes, but it wasn't quite a 'revenge game' since the Bucks lost to the lowly Knicks, 130-110. This gives Portis two straight games with double-digit scoring and he's played 26 minutes in both, and he's worth a glance if you're looking for a PF/C in deeper leagues. Just be aware that garbage time was the driving factor for his minutes in each of those games.
Brook Lopez struggled in 21 minutes on Sunday, scoring six points on 2-of-7 shooting with two rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
The defensive stats salvage this line in 8-cat and 9-cat, but points-league managers are going home empty-handed. BroLo has yet to score double-digit points in three games this season, and he's also yet to grab more than four boards or hand out a single assist. You can't ask for a better trade opportunity for the unorthodox threes-and-blocks specialist.
Andre Drummond took advantage of the Sixers being without Joel Embiid (back tightness) on Sunday, racking up a season-high 24 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks on 11-of-18 shooting in a 118-94 win over the Sixers.
Drummond was looking for revenge against the Pistons on Saturday and hit just 7-of-21 shots, but waltzed into a dream matchup against a team without a center on Sunday. Drummond is rolling early for the undefeated Cavs, averaging 20.3 points, 14.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocks through three games. He's 0-for-3 from downtown and has hit just 11-of-18 free throws (61 percent), but is playing well for the surprising Cavaliers. Hopefully he can keep it going, although we wouldn't be mad at him if he just stops shooting 3-pointers altogether.
Frank Ntilikina scored 12 points in 19 minutes off the bench Sunday, hitting 4-of-6 shots including all four of his 3-point attempts.
The four triples tie Ntilikina's career high, which he's done twice previously, but it's not something we expect to see duplicated. Immanuel Quickley (left hip pointer) and Dennis Smith Jr. (left quad contusion) were both unavailable, clearing extra backcourt minutes, and Ntilikina still had low usage and a near-total lack of supporting stats (one board and nothing else). Until he strings together a few more strong games, he can safely be left on the wire.
Jayson Tatum snapped his historic aversion to the free throw line with a 25-point, 11-rebound, 5-assist showing in a loss to the Pacers.
It took until his 59th field goal attempt of the season, but Tatum finally shot — and made — a free throw. He sunk both in his lone trip to the line. Tatum didn't play his best game, and it ended with a missed 3-point attempt that could've won the game for Boston. Still, he's producing at an All-NBA rate... just maybe not at the line.
Kevin Knox (left knee soreness) finished Sunday's game vs. the Bucks with seven points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 26 minutes.
The former lottery pick has the dubious distinction of decreasing his scoring the past two years -- 12.8 points per game as a rookie, 6.4 last season and 5.5 this season. He's yet to show reliable 3-point shooting, rarely creates offense for teammates, and has been racking up bad fouls at a rapid clip. Despite coach Tom Thibodeau's praise during training camp and the preseason, Knox remains a non-factor for fantasy. He's going to earn more minutes until Obi Toppin returns from his calf injury, though, giving him some daylight in points leagues.
Mike Scott played 19 minutes and hit 4-of-8 shots and three 3-pointers for 12 points, three rebounds and a steal in Sunday's loss to the Cavaliers.
He's working his way back from a COVID-19 absence and played well tonight in limited action. Joel Embiid was out with back tightness, which helped Scott, but he's going to be a tough guy to roster in fantasy when the Sixers are a full strength.
Domantas Sabonis scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and five assists in a 1-point win over the Celtics, for his third straight incredible fantasy night.
Sabonis has posted two double-doubles, and a triple-double in three games for the Pacers so far. He's been dominant, averaging 27.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists on 65.5% shooting, even knocking down four 3-pointers. His turnovers have been too high (13 in three games), but fantasy managers have to be ecstatic with his output, which shows no signs of slowing down.
Frank Kaminsky scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting with two rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes on Sunday.
In Kaminsky's second game of the season, he even knocked down a shot from range. Don't expect this type of output regularly, though. Kaminsky was afforded play-time due to injuries to both Dario Saric and Jalen Smith.
Dwight Howard started for Joel Embiid on Sunday and had nine points and three rebounds on 4-of-4 shooting in just 15 minutes.
Embiid was a late scratch with back tightness in the second game of a back-to-back, which is slightly concerning for his fantasy managers, although not all that surprising. Howard really didn't do much of anything and the Sixers didn't ride him for very long. Mike Scott played 19 minutes and had 12 points, three boards and three 3-pointers, while Tony Bradley added four points, eight boards and two blocks in 17 minutes off the bench. The takeaway here is that no one is a clear winner on nights when Embiid is sitting, including the Sixers. They lost their first game of the season and had trouble mustering any semblance of offense against the lowly Cavs with Embiid in street clothes.
LaMarcus Aldridge only played 20 minutes in Sunday's 98-95 loss to the Pelicans, shooting 2-of-7 from the field for four points, four boards, two blocks and one assist.
It's not as though the Pelicans use a small-ball frontcourt, with Steven Adams and Zion Williamson, which makes Aldridge's near-disappearance all the more concerning. He was shelved in favor of small lineups late in this game and the bench was considerably more effective, so for now we'll assume it's a one-off move by Gregg Popovich. Clearly, though, the high-usage Aldridge we've known from years past is just that -- in the past. This isn't a good moment to try and trade him in fantasy leagues, but be mindful that his 'name brand' may still carry outsized weight.
Rudy Gay shot 9-of-20 from the field en route to a team-high 22 points on Sunday, adding six rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks and two 3-pointers in 28 minutes.
The Spurs deployed Gay at center in the fourth quarter of a close game tonight, surrounding him with DeMar DeRozan, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker IV and Dejounte Murray. He's finding ways to get involved and clearly the Spurs want him to fire at will offensively -- he didn't attempt more than 12 shots in the Spurs' first 58 games last season, which makes his 20 attempts tonight all the more remarkable. He won't be this good very often, but makes sense if you need a glue-guy in category leagues.
Shake Milton played 22 minutes off the bench and hit 2-of-6 shots and a 3-pointer for six points and two assists in Sunday's ugly 118-94 loss to the Cavaliers.
Yuck. Milton is regressing after scoring 19 in his first game, 10 in his second and just six in a season-low 22 minutes on a night when Joel Embiid was in street clothes. Milton is still an intriguing fantasy play, but loses a lot of luster as long as he's coming off the bench. And the fact that his minutes and production have dropped in three straight games is not a good sign. There are enough hot free agents floating around on the waiver wire you can probably make a move without feeling much remorse, unless he's eventually elevated to starter status.
Davis Bertans played just 19 minutes on Sunday and hit 1-of-4 shots (all 3-pointers) for five points, two rebounds and a block.
He's still working on his conditioning and the Wizards are going to limit him on back-to-backs. He's yet to have a solid fantasy stat line this season and his conditioning issues are a concern. It's hard to tell you to drop him at this point, as he has the potential to explode at any time. But if we're still looking at low minutes and production a week from now, fantasy managers may have a tough decision to make.
Troy Brown played a season-high 24 minutes and hit 5-of-7 shots for 12 points, five rebounds, one assist and two 3-pointers in Sunday's loss to the Magic.
Brown has been highly disappointing thus far and this was easily his best game of the three the Wizards have played this season. He may have gotten a minutes boost with Russell Westbrook resting, but the results weren't all that exciting. If you recently dropped him, no regrets. And if you're still holding onto him, this line is mildly encouraging. But we're guessing there are players on your waiver wire that can help you right now. Feel free to drop Brown, but don't be surprised if he turns it on later in the season. He's scored a total of 15 points in three games, and 12 of those came in this one.
Josh Hart played 33 minutes off the Pelicans' bench on Sunday, finishing a home win vs. the Spurs with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Hart hit 3-of-6 shots and was 5-of-5 at the line. There wasn't much else tonight, with one 3-pointer and zero assists, steals and blocks, but fantasy GMs won't complain about an efficient bare-bones double-double. He's benefiting from coach Stan Van Gundy's tight eight-man rotation and looks like a rest-of-season value in 12-team leagues.
Zion Williamson shot 7-of-22 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line on Sunday, but still finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds (five offensive), five steals and one block.
Steven Adams added eight points and nine boards in 31 minutes, and the Pelicans needed every ounce of their starting frontcourt's production to earn this 98-95 win. They're getting absolutely nothing from their backup bigs this season. Prior to tonight's game, the trio of Jaxson Hayes, Willy Hernangomez and Nicolo Melli had a combined total of four points, four rebounds, four assists and zero blocks. The Pelicans have been clear that they won't rein in Zion's minutes as a precaution, and sure enough he played 38 minutes for the second straight game tonight. His high last season was 35 minutes, and that was an overtime game.
Trey Lyles made his season debut in six minutes off the Spurs' bench on Sunday, finishing scoreless with a pair of rebounds.
If you drafted Lyles in a deep league, hoping he might recapture the magic of his late-season run last year when LaMarcus Aldridge was out, those hopes have been dashed. Matchups don't appear to be the cause of Lyles' inactivity (he was a DNP-CD in the Spurs' first two games), so he may not crack the rotation while Aldridge, Rudy Gay and Jakob Poeltl are healthy.