Spurs to start Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell, Wembanyama

Fox had his best game of the season thus far, recording his first 20-point game while shooting 80 percent from the field. For the season, Fox is shooting 57.6 percent from the field and 80 percent from the foul line, and that efficiency has boosted his fantasy value.

Harper scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from the foul line. He finished with a season-high point total, and fantasy managers will also be pleased with his rebounds and assists. Tobias Harris (calf) isn’t expected to make his Spurs debut anytime soon, so any talk of starting lineup changes is irrelevant.

The Timberwolves didn’t have Rudy Gobert (back) on Saturday, and Wemby took full advantage. The Spurs’ center took a career-high 34 shots, shot 50 percent from the field and finished with the tenth 40-point game of his career. Add in the rebounds and blocks, and this was an excellent end to the week for those rostering Wembanyama. The Spurs play four games next week, starting with the Jazz on Monday.

Castle is available after initially being listed as questionable for Saturday’s game. He’ll occupy his usual place in the Spurs’ starting lineup.

Castle popped up on the injury report Saturday as questionable with a migraine. With Castle potentially on the wrong side of questionable, Julian Champagnie is a candidate to enter the starting lineup.

Castle’s ability to put up peripheral stats will be an important part of his fantasy outlook in dynasty leagues. The main thing that is notable at this point is that he has attempted 8.2 3PT attempts per game this season which is up from 3.6 last season. In the present, if you drafted him, you’d be feeling pretty happy with the start he has had this season. He’s gotten you points, rebounds, and assists on a consistent basis. If he is shooting 3’s on a consistent basis, he could be a fantasy monster and a staple in the top 50 for years to come.

This game had the outline of a monster fantasy performance with the rebounds and assists. Unfortunately he shot 4-17 from the field which puts a dampener on everything else. Once he becomes the established guy, he will be an absolute monster in fantasy. His ability to get to the rim at will is going to be one of the best in the league when he’s at his peak.

Vassell made some big shots in the fourth quarter to keep the Spurs in this game. While it was a good performance, he’s only up to 12.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on the season. He’s a points and 3-point streamer who will occasionally have good games but is not a must in most redraft leagues. There’s too many high usage players on the team for him to be able to score like this consistently.

Wembanyama took advantage of the mediocre Jazz defense and got whatever he wanted in this game. His defensive presence changes how offenses attack the rim. He has been exactly what you wanted if you drafted him with the first pick in redraft leagues. Its hard to complain and you hope he doesn’t get hurt if you have him.

Harper was the lone Spurs starter to play 30 minutes in Tuesday’s blowout victory, but his night nearly ended during the first quarter. The second-year wing tweaked his left knee when he landed on a teammate’s foot after converting a tip-in. After a brief moment on the court, Harper returned to the bench under his own power and stayed in the game. Tuesday’s game was the first of two in as many nights for the Spurs, so keep an eye out for Harper’s name on the injury report ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Jazz.