NBA Player News

While the 2023-24 season was the best of Kuminga’s NBA career, his skill set limited where he could play within the Warriors’ rotation. According to Cleaning the Glass, 96% of his minutes were played at the power forward position, meaning he could not share the floor with Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. That trio can be Golden State’s best defensive frontcourt, but only if Kuminga expands his offensive repertoire. “I think he sees the floor pretty well, but his fundamentals in terms of passing have to improve if he’s going to play the three,” Kerr said. “We need him to play the three if we want to have Trayce out there at the five and Draymond at the four. That ideally would be a great defensive lineup. But we’re not ready for that yet as a team.”

Thompson’s 2023-24 season came to a brutal end, as he missed all ten field goal attempts and went scoreless in Tuesday’s Play-In tournament loss to the Kings. The veteran guard, one of the all-time great shooters in NBA history, will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. And a return to the Warriors could depend on how amenable he is to coming off the bench, which is what happened this season. “I thought Klay really showed that he was agreeable to the sixth-man role the second half of the year, even though eventually we put him back in the starting lineup,” Kerr, who noted that the team needs to add more shooting to the roster this offseason, said. “I think that’s got to be an option going forward. I would prefer not to play him 35 minutes.” Thompson’s future in the Bay Area, beginning with whether or not he’ll re-sign with the team, impacts multiple Warriors, including Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody.

Collins injured his shoulder early in the third quarter of Sunday’s win over the Pistons and will need his fifth surgery since entering the NBA. One of the previous four was to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder back in 2019, with the other three being on his left ankle. The expectation is that Collins will be healthy for the start of next season, which is unlikely to impact his fantasy value. With Victor Wembanyama firmly entrenched as the starting center, Collins was most valuable on nights when the French phenom did not play due to injury.

Robinson was cleared to play after being listed as probable for Wednesday’s game against the 76ers, but he didn’t end up being part of the team’s rotation. With Jimmy Butler sidelined, Robinson should see some minutes off the bench, though there is certainly a chance that Erik Spoelstra continues to roll with Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Delon Wright.

Miami has already ruled Jimmy Butler out for multiple weeks, and Rozier won’t be Miami’s savior that gets them out of the Play-In Tournament. Tyler Herro will continue to start, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Delon Wright will take on extra minutes. Duncan Robinson, who was not part of the rotation for their game against the 76ers, may end up taking on a role in this game.

Kawhi was sidelined for the final eight games of the regular season, but the team is expecting him to available for Game 1. However, they won’t officially say one way or another until closer to Sunday. P.J. Tucker has been starting in his place, and he will return to playing a bench role if Leonard is back.

Both players were questionable ahead of Wednesday’s matchup with Atlanta after sitting out the final game of the regular season (or in Drummond’s case final three games), but they were both available to play. Though they are questionable again, there shouldn’t be much fear that they will sit out. Alex Caruso is officially questionable, and he is the only player that may end up missing Friday’s game.

Butler suffered the injury in the first quarter of Wednesday’s loss but managed to play the rest of the game. He was seen noticeably grimacing throughout the contest, most notably after a steal and fastbreak dunk. Butler’s absence couldn’t have come at a worse time for Miami. The Heat will play in an elimination game Friday against the Bulls, and the winner will advance to face the Celtics as the No. 8 seed. Without “Playoff Jimmy” on the court, Miami will have to lean more heavily on Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic and Caleb Martin.

Despite previously being undefeated in the Play-In Tournament, the magic ran out for Trae and the Hawks in this one. This was their third straight appearance in the Play-In after making the Eastern Conference Finals before that. While Young was able to come away with a 20-point double-double, his inefficient shooting and turnovers certainly weren’t pretty. He was a team-worst -27 in 43 minutes, which means they outscored Chicago by 12 points in his five minutes on the bench. There had already been plenty of rumors suggesting that Atlanta could trae Young this summer, and after a performance like this, those rumors will certainly heat up.

Capela nearly had a double-double before halftime, and he was able to reach 10 rebounds early in the third quarter. He scored 16 points before the break, but he didn’t get many buckets after that. This was a down year for Capela, as he had his worst field goal percentage since his rookie season, which is a big part of his value in 9-cat leagues. He’ll be on the wrong side of 30 to start next season, and it is hard to imagine him bouncing back. He should continue to be a reliable source of big man stats, but he isn’t as dominant in fantasy as he once was. The emergence of Onyeka Okongwu will only continue to hinder that.