Bickerstaff: Ausar Thompson to play more minutes

The standoff between Duren and the Pistons has finally ended, with the 6-foot-10 center receiving a fully guaranteed deal worth $40 million per year. Although Duren had the best regular season of his career to date and earned All-NBA honors, his postseason struggles factored into Detroit needing seven games to eliminate Orlando before falling to Cleveland in the second round. Thursday’s agreement comes less than two hours before the deadline for Duren to accept the one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer that would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. With his immediate future in Detroit now secure, Duren offers third-round potential in standard fantasy leagues. The question is whether this saga will affect his performance, especially early in the season.

Signed to a two-year, two-way contract in late August, Castro is coming off a final season of college basketball in which he averaged 15.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game at George Washington. With Thursday’s reported transaction, the Rockets have freed up a two-way contract slot. Guards Quadir Copeland and Sean Pedulla occupy the other two slots.

Thompson averaged a career-high 26 minutes last season, but his coach said the expectation will be for more minutes this season. How many more minutes is unclear, but we can expect the 23-year-old Thompson to be more of a full-time player this year. That’s a boost to Thompson’s fantasy value as he comes off the board in the eighth-round of fantasy drafts.

Fall will miss at least two weeks with a left hip strain, the 76ers announced Thursday. Once he’s healthy, Fall will compete with Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti for backup big man minutes behind Joel Embiid.

Vukcevic suffered a left hip impingement and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, the Wizards announced Thursday. The former second-round pick is entering his fourth season in the NBA.

Focusing on honing one’s craft during the offseason, rather than rehabbing from an injury, can make a significant difference for a player. That was the case for Melton this offseason, despite procedures on both thumbs. Last summer was spent recovering from a torn ACL, while a back injury was the issue in the summer of 2024. A healthy Melton can be a factor in fantasy basketball, especially category leagues, whether he starts or comes off the bench. His injury history puts him in “late-round flier” territory in drafts, but Melton can still be a steal for managers.

Penda tweaked his hamstring just before training camp opened, but there is no concern that it will become a long-term issue. Like Anthony Black, who’s dealing with an ankle injury, the Magic are exercising caution with Penda’s workload. He had his moments as a rookie, but Penda has a limited ceiling in standard fantasy leagues because of Orlando’s depth at forward.

Black injured his ankle during voluntary workouts before training camp opened. The good news is that the injury is not serious, and the Magic are exercising caution. Black started 40 of the 64 games he appeared in last season, thanks in part to injuries to Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner, emerging as a player who had to be rostered in standard leagues. Black should once again be a late-round pick in drafts.

Smith, who played a career-high 70 games last season, is dealing with a strained right calf. With the reported timeline, he may be limited when the regular season begins. Smith’s absence doesn’t affect fantasy basketball, but it does leave a Heat team already light on options at point guard down a rotation piece. Starter Davion Mitchell has become more important, especially if Smith isn’t ready when the regular season begins.

The deal runs through the 2029-30 season. A second-round pick two years ago, Shead appeared in all 82 games last year and averaged 5.4 assists off the bench. With the Raptors facing a salary cap crunch in future years, locking in Shead below the mid-level is a bet on continued growth from the 24-year-old guard.