NBA Player News

The Pacers have five players in league protocols, including three guards. Caver will provide depth for the Pacers, but not for your fantasy team.

Kawhi will return to the lineup after missing the last three games for the Clippers. Kobe Sanders has been starting in his place but should head back to the bench with Leonard available.

Reaves has been out since suffering a Grade 2 left calf strain during a Christmas Day loss to the Rockets. According to Redick, the Lakers guard has “looked like Austin” in the 3-on-3 sessions, and “stay ready” games (5-on-5) should be happening soon. Marcus Smart will continue to start with Reaves out, but he offered limited streaming value in that role.

Including Thursday’s game against the Trail Blazers, Ware has missed Miami’s last two games with a strained left hamstring. With the 7-footer returning to Miami to undergo further treatment, the expectation is that he will miss at least the remainder of the road trip, which concludes with a Saturday/Sunday back-to-back against the Jazz and Suns. With Ware unavailable, the Heat will have to go small when starting center Bam Adebayo isn’t on the floor, likely resulting in more minutes for Nikola Jović and Simone Fontecchio.

Due to the expectation of inclement weather in the Charlotte area, the start time for Saturday’s game has been moved up to 12 p.m. Eastern. Fantasy managers need to be mindful of this when setting their lineups for that day.

Williams is back after sitting out Portland’s last game, which was the second leg of a back-to-back. He’ll be back for this one, but he will likely be sidelined again on Friday against Toronto. Yang Hansen and Duop Reath should play more in that game after seeing smaller roles against Miami.

While Cissoko has started Portland’s last seven games, that may change on Thursday. Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant are all available, and either Holiday or Grant could join the starters. If so, Cissoko is the likely odd man out.

Shortly after being upgraded to probable, Grant has now been cleared to play against Miami. This is the first night of a back-to-back, so he will likely sit out against Toronto on Friday, but for this game, Sidy Cissoko and Rayan Rupert will lose out on some minutes.

Not long after he was announced as probable, Holiday is officially available for Thursday’s game. His return will likely push Sidy Cissoko to the bench, giving the two-way contract forward a role that’s unlikely to generate much fantasy value.

Mitchell’s absence opens up a spot in the starting lineup, with Kasparas Jakučionis being the most likely replacement. While risky, the rookie guard is worth streaming if he’s allowed to start.

Sochan is good to go after initially being listed as questionable. While he has not affected fantasy basketball this season, there may be a few more minutes available since Luke Kornet (adductor) is out.