NBA Player News

Butler will return to the starting lineup in place of Quentin Grimes, who is getting a rest night to help Philadelphia’s lottery odds. Council IV will also enter the starting lineup, replacing Jeff Dowtin Jr. despite his 17/4/3/3/2 line in 26 minutes on Sunday.

Isaac popped up on the injury report as questionable with an illness on Sunday morning. He’ll have merely a few hours to recover before game-time against the Pelicans. Isaac missed a game last week with Noah Penda seeing additional minutes off the bench, though neither are worth rostering in most fantasy leagues.

Carter was downgraded to questionable with a hip injury on Sunday morning. If the 26-year-old center is ultimately ruled out, Goga Bitadze would be the primary backup center while Moritz Wagner could also see minutes in what’s supposed to be his season debut.

Bey is set to miss his sixth game in a row with a right hip flexor strain. With Trey Murphy and Zion Williamson back in the starting lineup anyway, Bey will likely be looking at a bench role whenever he returns.

Collier finished one assist shy of a double-double on Saturday, with his playing time receiving a bump due to Utah losing by a franchise-record 55 points. With Keyonte George (four points, two rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in 23 minutes) having the best season of his brief NBA career, Collier’s fantasy upside is limited. However, he’s worth a look in deep leagues for managers needing assists.

Sensabaugh’s offensive performance was the lone bright spot for the Jazz in Saturday’s 150-95 defeat. Scoring isn’t an issue for the third-year wing, but he has offered minimal value outside of points and three-pointers. Over the past two weeks, Sensabaugh has an eight-cat value ranked outside the top-150. While playing time shouldn’t be an issue for him when the silly season rolls around, the category-league value will be limited.

Plus/minus is an imperfect stat, but Williams made the kind of history that no player wants on Saturday. His rating of minus-60 was the worst in league history (spanning 30 years of play-by-play data). He shot the ball relatively well, but the overall production wasn’t there for a player making his second consecutive start. Williams will have more opportunities between now and the end of the season, but he isn’t worth stashing for the “silly season.”

Mann did not play at all during the first three quarters of Saturday’s game. His name was called to begin the fourth, and the Hornets’ guard was not going to get cheated offensively. Mann shot 70 percent from the field and scored a team-high 20 points. The scoring outburst isn’t guaranteed to get Mann the minutes needed to affect fantasy basketball, so leave him on the waiver wire.

Saturday’s game was the first for Williams since November 2024, and he wasted no time getting up shots. All ten of his shots were three-pointers, of which he made three. Williams played 14 minutes, which Charlotte’s 55-point win may have inflated. There’s no need to add Williams after one game, but the ability to play either power forward or center may ensure him of rotation minutes the rest of the way.

Kalkbrenner was back in the rotation after missing ten games with a sprained left elbow. The rookie center was productive in the same areas he’s been all season, putting up a high field-goal percentage while also recording solid rebound and blocked shot numbers. Kalkbrenner played 23 minutes on Saturday, with Moussia Diabaté (10/10/1/0/2) logging 25. The split in the minutes is worth watching moving forward, as both can offer solid fantasy value.

Five was the number of the night for Ball, with three of the four statistical categories in which he hit that number being positive. The Hornets’ guard was responsible for five rebounds, five assists, five three-pointers...and five turnovers. By now, fantasy managers know to expect high-turnover nights from Ball, but the five on Saturday were the most in a game for him since December 31. However, Ball has been a top-25 player in eight-cat formats over the past two weeks, so turnovers aren’t going to cause too much stress among fantasy managers.