NBA Player News

Hood-Schifino is back after sitting out Wednesday’s loss to the Wizards. His return likely means fewer minutes for Marcus Bagley and Phillip Wheeler, who both played rotation minutes on Wednesday. Hood-Schifino has not provided consistent production, but he’ll get the minutes needed to achieve fantasy relevance in deep leagues.

Much has been made about Miami’s need for spacers, with most of the conversation focused on Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. (and with good reason). But Fontecchio is another capable shooter, and he’s coming off a season in which he made 37.5 percent of his three-point attempts. Against the Timberwolves, he made four of seven attempts. Fontecchio offered little beyond points and three-pointers, and that’s likely to be the norm during the regular season.

Miami sat most of its established veterans on Saturday, leading to Jović starting and taking on a bigger role on offense. He shot well and recorded a solid stat line, missing only blocks. While Jović doesn’t qualify as a must-draft player in 12-team leagues, he’ll be worth a look in deeper leagues. And Miami needs him to bounce back from a disappointing 2025-26.

Shannon started Saturday’s exhibition and played well, making half his shots and dishing out four assists. The third-year wing, who committed just one turnover, had his moments during the postseason last spring as the Timberwolves had to navigate multiple injuries. Shannon isn’t a must-draft player in 12-team redraft leagues, but the upside makes him worth considering in the final rounds.

Neither team played most of their key veterans, so guys like Hyland had more opportunities to impress. He took advantage, shooting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and committing no turnovers. Hyland still isn’t at the point where fantasy managers can rely on him for consistent value. However, with Mike Conley in Boston and Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) set to miss most of the regular season, Hyland will have more opportunities to contribute.

Richards scored all his points in the third quarter of Saturday’s exhibition, but the offense won’t earn him a spot on Miami’s Opening Night roster. Richards will need to prove himself most in rebounding and defense, and he did well in those areas. However, regardless of Saturday’s performance, he won’t be an option in fantasy leagues on a roster that includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo and Bobby Portis.

Rudy Gobert did not play on Saturday, opening the door for Beringer to start. The second-year center posted a stat line that included seven rebounds and four blocks, logging 24 minutes. Beringer is unlikely to play that many minutes consistently once the regular season begins. Still, with Julius Randle (Brooklyn) and Naz Reid (Charlotte) gone, he will be in the Timberwolves’ rotation.

The Celtics looked early on like a team with a lot of guys playing together for the first time before Tatum started to assert himself from a facilitating and scoring standpoint. Things turned around rather quickly afterwards as the new-look Tatum and Paul George combination seemed like a natural fit playing together on both ends of the floor. He also made sure to involve offseason acquisition Mitchell Robinson with a couple early pick-and-roll opportunities. It’s abundantly clear that this version of the Celtics has been built to revolve entirely around Tatum with an assortment of quality complementary pieces. The 28-year-old franchise cornerstone looks completely healthy after missing most of last year recovering from an Achilles injury and will be a top-five range pick in most fantasy drafts this fall.

Without LeBron James, Jaylen Brown or Joel Embiid in the lineup, it was Edgecombe that led the 76ers with 14 first-half points. The 21-year-old phenom flashed his speed and athleticism on an early baseline drive to the basket that resulted in a three-point play before knocking down a three-pointer shortly afterwards. His most impressive moment came with 7:48 left in the opening half when he took on a pair of Celtics defenders to finish strong at the rim for a three-point play. He’s the single-biggest unknown variable for Philadelphia as his play style and pace seems to be dramatically different from everyone besides Tyrese Maxey. He’ll come off the board as a top-60 range pick in most fantasy drafts this fall.

It won’t really show up in the statsheet, but George looked completely locked-in from a defensive standpoint in his unofficial Celtics debut, fitting in seamlessly with Boston’s complicated defensive rotations. He dished out four assists and generated five steals, looking like the perfect complimentary piece to Jayson Tatum. That role won’t translate to astronomical fantasy value, but his status as Boston’s secondary offensive option, along with his all-around fantasy impact, locks him in as a top-50 range pick in drafts this fall.

Boston’s bench looked to be in midseason form with Pritchard carrying the bulk of the scoring workload for the non-Tatum unit as he finished the opening half with a team-high 15 points. He drained 5-of-8 attempts from three-point range and finished second on the Celtics behind Jayson Tatum with 12 shot attempts. Pritchard remains a streaky shooter capable of putting up huge scoring numbers when he’s in a groove. He’ll be a top-100 range selection in fantasy drafts this fall.