Jeff Green shifted to a bench role on Friday, finishing a home loss to the Raptors with 15 points on 4-of-12 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws in 30 minutes.
Green is being used a lot as a small-ball center, and it's a look coach Steve Nash seems keen to continue using. "The small lineup is a strong lineup for us," he said. That's a bit of an understatement, since the league's best qualifying five-man lineup for Offensive Rating has Green at center surrounded by Kevin Durant, Joe Harris, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. He's quietly posting late-round fantasy value in 8-cat and 9-cat, and could get a boost on Saturday with Kevin Durant (health and safety protocols) being kept away from the team for at least one game.
Fred VanVleet came back to earth on Friday with 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in 38 minutes vs. the Nets.
VanVleet was fresh off scoring 54 points on Tuesday, which was both a franchise record and the most points ever scored by an undrafted player in the NBA. "Just a special night, obviously, on a lot of different levels," VanVleet said after Tuesday's game. His shot abandoned him tonight and he was 1-of-9 from deep, a far cry from his 11-of-14 eruption a few days ago, but let's focus on the defensive stats. The 6'0" guard has five steals and five blocks in the past two games alone, and across-the-board contributions have helped him soar toward early-round value in Toronto's first 21 games. There's no obvious reason why he'd drop off, either.
Aron Baynes (strained right groin) made another start on Friday, playing 18 minutes to finish with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, four rebounds, one steal and one 3-pointer.
Baynes has apparently locked up the starting center job and his minutes had been on the rise with 29+ in his previous two games. He's out there to rebound, protect the rim, set hard screens and serve as a perimeter decoy, making 22.2% of his 2.5 attempts from deep. He's also serving as a minor buzzkill for Chris Boucher's fantasy value, though tonight the tables were turned with Boucher dominating the timeshare at center.
Chris Boucher came to life in 27 minutes during Friday's win in Brooklyn, scoring 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds, two blocks and zero turnovers.
Boucher's playing time was rocky to begin the season, but he had settled into a nice run with 26.7 minutes per game in 10 straight games from Jan. 8-25. The seesaw has tilted the opposite direction in five games since then, however, with minutes of 13, 14, 18 and 19 prior to tonight's upswing. His per-minute fantasy efficiency is through the roof, allowing him to settle into early-round value despite the low playing time, but hopefully tonight's split at center (Aron Baynes played 18 minutes) is a sign of things to come.
Isaac Okoro notched 10 points (4-of-8 FGs, 0-of-2 FTs) with three rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two triples in Friday's loss to the Bucks.
The money stats definitely catch the eye but he was only averaging 1.2 steals, 0.4 blocks and 0.7 triples per 36 minutes entering Friday so we'll need to see him do it consistently. Okoro scored a combined six points in his previous two games without much else to show for it despite big minutes, so he's not an add just yet.
Russell Westbrook returned from a rest day to score 13 points (4-of-9 FGs, 5-of-7 FTS) with three rebounds, three assists and six turnovers in 25 minutes.
This game was over by the third quarter which explains the low minutes. The Wizards have another back-to-back coming up on the 7th and with the team sitting at 5-14, it's unlikely that he's suddenly going to be cleared to play in both. The DNPs combined with the usual inefficiencies will make Westy a headache going forward.
Miles Bridges struggled in 16 minutes off the bench on Friday, shooting 1-of-7 from the field to finish with two points, two assists and one rebound.
Bridges was coming off a strong performance as a fill-in starter on Wednesday, when he scored 16 points with a full stat line. Utah's defense is formidable but the matchup only gets partial credit here -- Bridges simply wasn't sharp and he settled for too many deep 3-point attempts (making none of them). He's producing boring low-end value on the season, but it's disappointing that he couldn't do more with P.J. Washington (foot) out of the rotation tonight.
Terry Rozier (right ankle sprain) started in his return on Friday, finishing a loss to the Jazz with 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Rozier only missed two games with the injury and durability remains one of his selling points as a fantasy player. He played 36 minutes tonight and showed no signs of the ankle injury, so he should be ready to go for a back-to-back set on Sunday (vs. Washington) and Monday (vs. Houston). He may also find himself with more on-ball minutes if Devonte' Graham (groin strain) is forced to miss time.
Kevin Durant (health and safety protocols) was pulled from Friday's game in the third quarter and he will not return.
This is as bizarre as it gets. Durant's streak of 866 straight starts ended because he was undergoing contact tracing prior to the game and hadn't been cleared prior to tip-off. During the first quarter it was announced that he could play, and he proceeded to navigate foul trouble to score eight points with six boards and five assists in 19 minutes. He even had his would-be fifth foul overturned in the third quarter, but moments later the league announced he couldn't play the rest of the game. The abrupt reversal on his availability comes "at the direction of the league," and the reasoning and circumstances surrounding this drama aren't clear. For now, we'll consider him questionable to play in Philly on Saturday.
Kevin Durant (protocols) is unlikely to travel to Philly for Saturday's game vs. the 76ers.
There are still a lot of unknowns here and the whole situation is just bizarre. The NBA and Nets are still conferring according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, so it sounds like another update will be coming shortly. Stay tuned.
J.J. Redick shot 3-of-3 from deep and 3-of-3 from the line to score 12 points in 17 minutes vs. Indiana on Friday.
Redick added just one assist but he did what he's asked to do, which is space the court and give the second unit some scoring oomph. He's returned to the rotation the past few games, after recently falling out of coach Stan Van Gundy's rotation, but he's not helping fantasy managers and is unlikely to do so even if he is (as rumored) soon traded to a team in the northeast.
Brandon Ingram shot 12-of-21 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line on Friday, scoring 30 points with seven assists, six rebounds and three 3-pointers.
Ingram didn't have an defensive stats but otherwise his performance was unimpeachable. It broke him out of a three-game slump shooting the ball, and to his credit he exercised patience to get the shots he wanted -- a trend we hope to see continued vs. the short-handed Grizzlies on Saturday.
Lonzo Ball helped the Pelicans squeak out a 114-113 win on Friday, scoring 20 points (7-of-13 shooting) with five 3-pointers, nine rebounds, three assists and one block.
Ball scored 18 of his points in the second half to help stave off a furious rally from Indiana. Head coach Stan Van Gundy was asked recently about Ball's recent effectiveness from the arc. “It’s absolutely huge,” he replied. "I mean he’s got the ball in his hands, controlling the action. When he’s taking care of the ball, making good decisions, and, obviously, knocking down shots, our offense is going to be a lot better." That held true tonight with 53.9% shooting as a team (52.0% from deep), and after a sluggish start this season Lonzo is quickly ascending toward top-50 value.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was held to four points in 17 minutes on Friday, shooting 2-of-7 from the field with two rebounds, one steal and one block.
The bottom has officially fallen out for NAW, who was trending up as a potential pickup in late January. He's still collecting impressive defensive stats, but he's 0-of-9 from deep the past two games and is suddenly ceding minutes to J.J. Redick. The pendulum may swing back in his favor soon, but until then leave him on the waiver wire.
Coby White hit 6-of-17 shots for 16 points, three dimes, one rebound, one block and four triples vs. the Magic on Friday.
Just like the end of last season, Coby is proving to be a strong scorer and even had 11 of the first 13 points for the Bulls in the second quarter, but his playmaking is still lagging behind -- he ranks in the 41st percentile for the pick-and-roll. That has led many around the Bulls to believe that the PG position will be addressed at the deadline or most likely in next year’s draft, so Coby’s future may be as a microwave scorer off the bench. As for fantasy, he’s been a great source of points, triples and dimes but a low FG% on high volume combined with a lack of defensive stats has limited his 9-cat upside.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had eight points, two rebounds and one steal in 14 minutes off the Nets' bench on Friday.
The Nets lost this game, 123-117, but the on-court results were overshadowed by drama involving Kevin Durant's availability due to contact tracing. In the end, KD played 19 minutes before getting yanked in the third quarter and ruled unavailable for Saturday's game in Philly. That gives TLC a window of opportunity for streaming and DFS value, and should also benefit Friday's fill-in starter Bruce Brown (13 points, six boards in 25 minutes).
DeAndre Jordan was back in the Nets' starting lineup on Friday, posting 10 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and a pair of blocks in 18 minutes.
Jordan came off the bench vs. the Clippers on Tuesday, likely because he matched up better vs. Ivica Zubac. The opposite was true tonight with Aron Baynes starting for Toronto and Chris Boucher with the second unit, so this was simply a matchup-based switch from coach Steve Nash. DJ is an underwhelming fantasy asset even as a starter, though a handful of blocks (1.4 per game) and extreme efficiency (81.3% shooting on 3.6 attempts) give him a foothold as a specialist.
Grant Williams will start Friday's game alongside Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson.
Boston is going big in the absence of Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, though coach Brad Stevens is no stranger to quick lineup changes if he doesn't like how things start out. The starting job gives Williams a bump in DFS but he's not a great pickup elsewhere with Brown just day-to-day.
James Ennis scored a season-high 14 points (3-of-5 FGs, 8-of-8 FTs) vs. the Bulls on Friday with three rebounds, one steal and zero turnovers in 23 minutes.
Gary Clark was scoreless in 17 minutes so if you're in a very deep league it looks like Ennis may have a shot at a tiny bit of value with Aaron Gordon (ankle) out for weeks. Don't get too excited though, as he came into tonight's game ranked outside the top-200 in 9-cat with a stat line that would make only Tony Snell proud. Feel free to throw him on a watch list but keep in mind that Al-Farouq Aminu (right knee surgery) is due back soon and is the better player.
Lauri Markkanen (right shoulder sprain) is "unlikely" to play vs. Orlando on Saturday.
That comes directly from coach Billy Donovan, though he's just stating the obvious. Markkanen hit his shoulder while drawing an and-one early in Friday's game, and although he tried to play through it he was obviously in pain and was eventually pulled. Ideally this will just be a short-term issue and won't cool him off, as he was starting to light up teams on a regular basis. If he does miss more games, expect Thaddeus Young and Patrick Williams to benefit the most.