NBA Player News

Russell continues to deal with this back issue, but it isn’t expected to keep him out of the lineup against Toronto. He was disappointing in 24 minutes in their blowout loss on Wednesday, and it hasn’t been a great start to the year for him. If things get out of hand against a depleted Raptors’ lineup, Russell may not see a full workload once again.

This was only Whitehead’s fifth NBA game and only the second where he played more than three minutes. With a performance like this, it makes sense that he set a ton of career-highs. The former five-star’s college and professional career have been plagued by injuries, so this game was a testament to his hard work. Whitehead only got this chance because of injuries, but with the Nets focused on building for the future, he should continue to have a role moving forward. This type of night may not happen often, but he is worth adding off the waiver wire after this.

Hunter only scored 18 points in their last game, which put an end to his 20-point streak, though he reached that mark once again in this game. Hunter has thrived in a reserve role for the Hawks this year, though most of his contributions in fantasy have come through efficient points and 3-pointers. He is a good defender, but he doesn’t contribute defensive stats, which has always been an issue for him. However, Hunter has been one of the Hawks’ best scorers this year, and that should continue moving forward.

It has been a disappointing year for Capela, who has taken a big step back in both production and minutes. However, he has been playing better as of late, and he set a new season-high for rebounds in this game. Over his last three games, Capela is averaging 7.0 points, 14.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. He won’t maintain that (especially the steals), but it has been a nice stretch for him. He’ll look to keep dominating the glass on Wednesday when they head to Milwaukee.

Young only had five assists in their win over Charlotte on Saturday, and he made up for it in this game. This was his sixth game this year with at least 15 assists, with three of those coming in their last five games. The poor shooting percentage and high turnover numbers aren’t going anywhere, though that was something that managers were preparing for when they drafted him. Both have been worse than expected, so hopefully he can start to figure things out soon, since he is averaging just 20.9 points per game, which is his lowest mark since his rookie year.

After struggling in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Knicks, McCollum bounced back in this game. He had 13 points against New York, but he scored 14 in the first half alone against the Hawks. While McCollum was able to have one of his best games of the season, he wasn’t able to help stop this losing streak. They’ve lost nine straight games and 15 of their last 16 games after a 3-3 start. As they get healthier, that should correct itself, and McCollum will continue to put up strong numbers for fantasy managers regardless.

In a matchup with Clint Capela, Missi wasn’t able to get the best of him on the glass, but he was a far better offensive player in this one. He scored as many points as Capela and Onyeka Okongwu combined as he set a new career-high for scoring. This was his sixth straight game scoring in double figures, and it seems like New Orleans has figured out how to get the most out of him. He should continue to put up double-doubles with blocks and sky-high field goal percentage, just like Capela did for a long time.

Murray was dealt to New Orleans this summer, and this was his first game back in Atlanta after spending the last two years with the Hawks. Due to a hand fracture, this was only his fifth game with his new team, and he still hasn’t been able to find his shot. He has yet to shoot 40% in a game, and he has only made at least 30% of his shots in one of those. Getting shots to fall has been a major struggle from him, but Murray has been able to still contribute value in other categories, like he did in this game.

After a solid first half, Smith ended up starting the third quarter in place of Duncan Robinson. This was likely just a one-time change to give the team a much-needed jolt, and it helped them start the second half on a 7-0 run. However, it didn’t help them get a win. Smith was one of the bright spots, but he still didn’t have a great night in fantasy hoops. This was also his first time in the rotation in a couple weeks, though he played well in that game too. Even if he earned minutes with his performance in this game, he isn’t a player to add off the waiver wire.

Once again, Adebayo really struggled on the offensive end of the floor. He made a few shots in the fourth quarter to make his percentages a little better, but he still shot worse than 40% for the fourth straight game. However, he shot 4-of-8 after halftime, which is something to build on. He doesn’t have an easy matchup coming up, with Anthony Davis and the Lakers coming to town on Wednesday. Still, if they want to get back in the win column, they’ll need to get more out of Bam on offense.

With Jimmy Butler sidelined, Jaquez got his first start of the season, and he took advantage of the opportunity. He set a new season-high for points and recorded his first double-double of the year, though he didn’t have a good night shooting the ball. The team shot 34.9% from the floor and 20.6% from beyond the arc, so Jaquez was just one of many that struggled to hit shots for Miami in this game. Butler’s absence isn’t expected to be a long-term thing, but if he remains out against the Lakers on Wednesday, or for one leg of their back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, Jaquez should get more starts.