NBA Player News

With Paul George sidelined after hyperextending his knee in their previous game, Martin started in his place, which is noteworthy. George isn’t expected to play in back-to-backs, which means that Martin may start at least 20% of Philly’s games this season. That will give him plenty of opportunities to provide fantasy value, and he was able to produce decent numbers in just 26 minutes in this game. Martin isn’t worth drafting, but he’s worth considering as a streaming option.

With Paul George and Joel Embiid already dealing with injuries, Oubre may see a significant role early on with the 76ers this season after re-signing with them on a two-year deal this summer. PG and Embiid are also expected to sit every back-to-back this season, which is at least 15 more games with Oubre playing an expanded offensive role. He scored 18 points in 21 minutes in this game, and managers should expect him to get off to a strong start to the 2024-25 season.

After a strong finish to last season and an excellent performance at Summer League, the expectation is that Wilson will be a legitimate contributor on a tanking team this season. He isn’t a player to consider drafting in standard leagues, but he’s worth keeping an eye on. Brooklyn should be competing for Cooper Flagg rather quickly, which could result in them expanding Wilson’s role. Don’t be surprised if Wilson is a significant contributor at times this season.

McCain is being taken to the hospital after hitting his head while falling to the ground. He will be evaluated for a concussion, which could put his availability for the start of the season in jeopardy. Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson will take on extra minutes if McCain is forced to remain on the sidelines.

With Ben Simmons joining Nic Claxton on the sidelines for this game, Clowney was able to showcase his upside as part of the starting unit. A first round pick in 2023, Clowney showed plenty of flashes down the stretch of his rookie season, which has dynasty managers excited about his future. When the team is healthy, he’ll be in a reserve role, which will limit his fantasy impact this season. However, the expectation for the Nets is that they’ll be competing for the worst record in the league. Clowney should gain value as the season progresses, with some dominant numbers to come over the final two months of the season.

Allen isn’t the most exciting pick in fantasy basketball, but he is one of the most reliable mid-round picks year after year. In this preseason game, he handed out more buckets than he typically will during the regular season, though he was still able to contribute numbers across the board. He signed a three-year extension with the Cavs this summer, and after three straight top-50 seasons, there’s no reason to think that he won’t repeat that level of production once again.

With Max Strus sidelined for this game, LeVert slid into the starting unit. That wasn’t always the case last season, but with a new head coach, LeVert may be the go-to guy whenever Strus, Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell misses time. He didn’t do much in his 21 minutes in this game, but that shouldn’t have managers too concerned. LeVert isn’t an exciting target in redraft leagues, though he will have some value as a streamer at some point this season.

The starters barely played for the Pistons in this game, which allowed Fontecchio to provide plenty of offense off the bench. He played a significant role down the stretch for Detroit last season, and if the team struggles once again, he may have some silly season value after re-signing with them on a two-year deal this summer. However, early on, Fontecchio won’t play enough to impact fantasy hoops in the slightest.

This is likely precautionary, since it’s only a preseason game. With Onyeka Okongwu still out, Larry Nance will be the next man up seeing minutes at center. If Capela’s injury ends up keeping him sidelined longer than the rest of this game, Nance will have some streaming value to start the season.