NBA Player News

The Oklahoman reports that an announcement of the team name is expected before the end of the month, though not in the upcoming week. Their preseason opener is on October 8th against the Timberwolves (whose new jerseys read “Wolves” or “Minnesota”, rather than Timberwolves). Strangely, it will be played in Billings, Montana.

Young sat out Monday, and he’ll be out for a second straight game. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is expected to remain in the starting lineup. He posted a monster 30/4/5/2/1 line with six triples on Monday against the Thunder.

Knueppel will reclaim his spot in the starting lineup after sitting out on Monday, and Sexton will replace the injured Miles Bridges.

Allen will miss a seventh straight game to end the calendar year, which means Royce O’Neale should remain in the starting lineup. Collin Gillespie, however, has been the biggest beneficiary of Allen’s absence.

Connaughton will shake his questionable tag, but his availability is of little consequence to fantasy managers due to his limited role off the bench.

While Plumlee is sidelined, Moussa Diabaté should continue to see big minutes until Ryan Kalkbrenner (elbow) returns. PJ Hall will likely be Diabaté’s backup and see rotational minutes while Kalkbrenner is sidelined.

Bridges injured his right ankle on Monday against the Bucks, and the injury will cost him at least one game. Kon Knueppel (ankle) is back in action, but the Hornets could give more minutes to Tidjane Salaun, Collin Sexton and potentially Sion James to make up for the absence of Bridges.

Knueppel will return following a one-game absence, which should send Sion James back to the bench after a spot start against the Bucks. Fantasy managers can get Knueppel back into lineups for the New Year’s Eve slate.

A double-figure scorer in two straight and four of his last six appearances, Clifford recorded a season-high point total on Tuesday. And it’s worth noting that the rookie did not have to wait until “garbage time” to put up his points. Clifford shot 6-of-8 from the field in the first three quarters and finished a steal shy of a complete stat line. One solid performance does not make him a player worth adding, but Clifford is undoubtedly someone who would have added value if the Kings move some of their veterans before the February trade deadline.

Murray returned from his calf injury much sooner than many may have expected, as he was back in the lineup on Tuesday after a two-game absence. Interestingly, he played 30 minutes despite the game getting out of hand by halftime. The only important takeaway from Tuesday’s game for Murray managers is that he got through it without aggravating the calf injury. The Kings play three games over the final four days of Week 11, starting with a back-to-back on Thursday/Friday against the Celtics and Suns. We’ll see if Murray is available for all three.

The play of the Kings’ 2025 draft picks may have been the only positive to take from Tuesday’s 131-90 defeat. Raynaud recorded his sixth double-double since moving into the starting lineup. Add in the two blocked shots, and the final stat line was decent. Rostered in 31 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he has been a top-100 player over the past three weeks. If Raynaud is sitting on the waiver wire in 14-team leagues, and even some 12-team formats, fantasy managers can do far worse than picking him up if there’s a need for production at the center position.