Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Fantasy Basketball Minutes Report. Every week, I will be going through each team’s updated minutes per game to see which players are seeing the court more or less than in previous weeks. With this information in hand, I’ll try to discuss any relevant fantasy risers or fallers; players who we should be adding off waivers or removing from our teams.
The charts below are also great for exploring on your own. You can track the minutes over the last three games, five games, ten games, and for the entire season to see what trends stand out to you. All of this data was made accessible by Kyle Bland, who is incredibly talented and also incredibly generous, so make sure to give him a follow to check out all of his baseball data as well.
Atlanta Hawks
One of the big questions for the Hawks heading into the season was how the team would use the minutes freed up by the departures of Clint Capela, Larry Nance Jr., and others to accommodate new additions like Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, and Kristaps Porziņģis. Of course, Porziņģis has also missed two games already, so it makes sense that the Hawks will keep a moderate minutes restriction on him. Alexander-Walker should also see a bump in minutes if Trae Young (knee) has to miss an extended period of time, and it looks like second-year guard Keaton Wallace will get the first chance at filling Young’s spot in the rotation - not his minutes, but he would add ball-handling responsibilities off the bench. He remains off the fantasy radar for now.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics are one of a handful of teams that are trying to sort out an entirely new rotation with Jayson Tatum sidelined and Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis both out of town. Early on, it seems like Neemias Queta is earning the lion’s share of the minutes at center, and he has looked good. He’s certainly worth an add in fantasy formats if teams are looking for a big man, but Josh Minott is also playing himself into a larger role and has produced solid defensive stats to go along with 9.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in his bench minutes.
Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn is a young team that is going to try and work in a bunch of rookies and second-year players around the main cogs Michael Porter Jr., Cam Thomas, and Nic Claxton. As of now, the veterans are dominating the minutes and the usage, and are the only players to trust in fantasy basketball; however, we should expect the minutes to slide towards the rookies as the season goes on and the Nets begin to look ahead to next season.
Charlotte Hornets
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
One question has been clearly answered early on, and that’s that Ryan Kalkbrenner is the main option at center. Yes, Moudda Diabate is a regular in the rotation and has produced similar value, but Kalkbrenner is getting the first crack at the larger share of minutes. With Brandon Miller also likely out for a few weeks, we should see an uptick in minutes and usage from Kon Knueppel.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are 4-0. Who saw that coming? The defense has been elite, and we’ve seen solid growth from Matas Buzelis. This rotation is pretty set in stone, but it will be interesting to see what the return of Coby White does to Tre Jones and Ayo Dosunmu’s minutes.
Cleveland Cavaliers
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
With Darius Garland and Max Strus out, the Cavaliers are trying out a few new players in the rotation. De’Andre Hunter has stepped into a starting role, and both Dean Wade and Jaylon Tyson are seeing larger minutes off the bench. Wade has been valuable as a shooter, but the Cavaliers aren’t getting much right now out of Lonzo Ball, who was thought to be relied upon often as a ball-handler with Garland out.
Dallas Mavericks
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Without Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks have mixed minutes at point guard. Since they use Cooper Flagg to bring the ball up often, D’Angelo Russell hasn’t been used as a traditional starting point guard, as many hoped during draft season. We’ve also seen a logjam of big men, which means Dereck Lively II hasn’t played much when he has been on the court. This is a rotation that will likely settle a bit in the coming weeks.
Denver Nuggets
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Not many surprises in this Nuggets rotation, except maybe that Jonas Valanciunas isn’t really getting a lot of run so far, but has been productive when he’s been on the court. As expected, Cameron Johnson has slotted into a large role in the rotation; although, the early play of Aaron Gordon has hurt Johnson’s usage a bit.
Detroit Pistons
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Jaden Ivey is still sidelined, so we’ve seen a few more minutes for guys like Caris LeVert and Javonte Green, but they remain off the fantasy radar. Ronald Holland II has seen a slight uptick in minutes in his second season, but Jalen Duren has not seen his role expand in the way that many had hoped heading into fantasy basketball drafts.
Golden State Warriors
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Another team featuring very few surprises in terms of their rotation and minutes.
Houston Rockets
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
This is one of the more condensed rotations we’ve seen early on in the season. Reed Sheppard wound up not winning the starting point guard job, and, even though his role has expanded to almost 23 minutes per game, it’s not one that is super fantasy-friendly so far.
Indiana Pacers
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Much like the Celtics, the Pacers are trying to figure out their rotation with their star, Tyrese Haliburton. However, all of Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, James Wiseman, and Andrew Nembhard have also missed time due to injury, so this is a situation in constant flux. It is a little disappointing to see Isaiah Jackson play so few minutes to open the season.
Los Angeles Clippers
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
You probably recognize every single name in this rotation, and that’s a rarity for most NBA fans these days. This is a team of veterans, and there are few surprises in regards to how their minutes are being divided up.
Los Angeles Lakers
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
The Lakers are currently without Luka Doncic and LeBron James, so we’ve seen a lot of new faces in the rotation, like Jake LaRavia, who went off on Wednesday night. Austin Reaves has seen a massive usage boost without the two stars, but Rui Hachimura, DeAndre Ayton, and Jarred Vanderbilt have all been pressed into bigger roles than we initially expected.
Memphis Grizzlies
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
The Grizzlies are dealing with myriad injuries, and that has allowed Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward to step into bigger roles. I’ve been impressed with Coward and think he’s going to stick in a big role in this rotation, even when the team gets healthy. I’ll admit, I was hoping for a few more minutes for Santi Aldama, who is actually playing fewer minutes per game than he averaged in each of the last two seasons.
Miami Heat
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
| Pelle Larsson G | 4 | 1 | 11.8 | 6.5 |
Without Tyler Herro and now Norman Powell, the Heat have given more playing time to Pelle Larsson and also Jamie Jaquez Jr. off the bench. Jaquez has gotten off to a strong start to the season and should be the Heat’s primary scorer off the bench, but that’s really all that he provides. Andrew Wiggins has also stepped into a bit of a larger role on offense in the short-term.
Milwaukee Bucks
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
With Kevin Porter Jr. dealing with an injury, Ryan Rollins has moved into the starting rotation and looks great. He needs to be added in all fantasy leagues. Cole Anthony has also been giving the team solid minutes off the bench.
Minnesota Timberwolves
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
The recent injury to Anthony Edwards has led to a starting role for Mike Conley and also more minutes off the bench for Terrence Shannon Jr. and Bones Hyland. Conley is a fine add if you’re looking for assists, but much of the offensive production will remain split between Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo, and, to a lesser extent, Naz Reid.
New Orleans Pelicans
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
The injury to Yves Missi, which isn’t thought to be serious, has prompted the Pelicans to start DeAndre Jordan at center in recent games. That’s not great for fantasy purposes, but Derik Queen and Saddiq Bey have also seen an uptick in minutes as a result. Jeremiah Fears looked good in the preseason and has played a significant role early on in the season.
New York Knicks
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
New Knicks head coach Mike Brown is clearly still experimenting with his lineups to find the best combination of players for his offensive scheme. I wouldn’t read too much into the Knicks’ early playing time data, but I think it’s safe to say that Brown is going to use his bench a lot more than Tom Thibodeau did, and Josh Hart in particular, is unlikely to see the type of minutes he did over the last two years. That will limit his fantasy upside; however, he should still play 25-28 minutes per game and will put up solid overall numbers in those minutes.
Oklahoma City Thunder
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Orlando Magic
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
This season has not started as the Magic hoped for, but their minutes and rotation have been almost exactly as we expected. The team is just not really getting or making jumpshots right now.
Philadelphia 76ers
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Joel Embiid has gotten on the floor earlier than we anticipated, but he’s clearly not in his normal role, which has allowed Adem Bona to remain in the rotation. We’ve also seen big minutes being played by VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes with Jared McCain sidelined, but McCain has returned to practice, so we’ll have to see how that impacts the minutes.
Phoenix Suns
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
No real surprises here. Mark Williams was eased back in a bit in his first two games, but played 31 and 28 minutes in his last two, so his minutes should continue to rise.
Portland Trail Blazers
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Despite Jeramie Grant not being a starter anymore, he is still playing a ton of minutes. Jrue Holiday has perhaps filled a bigger role than many expected, and he has really delivered for fantasy managers and should be added if you need a guard.
Sacramento Kings
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Russell Westbrook is working into a bigger role with his new team. Over his last three games, he has played 27, 30, and 29 minutes and has taken on a bigger role on the offensive end. Of course, the Kings also lost all three of those games, so we’ll see how this rotation continues to shake out.
San Antonio Spurs
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
With De’Aaron Fox out, we’ve seen big minutes from Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper right at the start of the season, and both of them look good. The Spurs might not really need Fox after all, but fantasy managers could probably use Castle and Harper. Luke Kornet is getting some minutes alongside Wemby and their nickname together, “French Vanilla” is amazing.
Toronto Raptors
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
The Raptors are struggling to start the year, and Jakob Poeltl is playing his fewest minutes per game since 2019. Perhaps the Raptors knew he was playing through a back injury early on, but that’s all speculation. The main names are getting the most minutes, but they need to learn how to play together more effectively, especially on the defensive end.
Utah Jazz
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
Ace Bailey has really struggled to start the season, so his minutes continue to remain pretty low. I’d expect that to increase as the season goes on since the Jazz aren’t serious contenders this season. Walter Clayton Jr. earned himself a key role in the preseason and continues to be one of the first players off the bench.
Washington Wizards
| Name | GP | GS | MIN | PTS |
This is actually a pretty fun and intriguing team. The Wizards have seen real growth from Kyshawn George and Alex Sarr and gotten good minutes from Tre Johnson. We will see Bilal Coulibaly play his first game of the season on Thursday, so that could change the minutes distribution a lot.
