NBA Player News

Braun logged his highest scoring performance of the season on Wednesday, finishing with 10 or more made field goals for the first time. His scoring came mostly from inside the arc, although a couple of made three-pointers helped him reach his new season-high. Yet, the versatile wing did more than just score; he was one of Denver’s top rebounders against Memphis, produced one of his highest assist totals, and also set a new season-high in steals. Braun’s balanced production was not rewarded with a win. However, his production may help some fantasy managers during the fantasy playoffs.

The assists were a massive boost to his performance and should be a boost to your fantasy team, especially at this part of the week. With Paolo out, he has the opportunity to show what he can do, and see if there’s some untapped upside that he didn’t get to show with Paolo there. A lot of his upside will be dependent on the 3-point shot and he hasn’t shot it well up to this point in the season.

After struggling against the Raptors on Wednesday, he played much better and hit 50% of his 3-pointers in this game. He hit all of his free throws and it was good to see him get back to where he was last season. Hopefully you didn’t panic if you had him. He won’t score 28 points every game but he will be much better than where he was.

In two wins over the Knicks this season, Maxey has scored 55 points, shooting 19-of-38 from the field. On Friday, the 76ers’ star guard scored 18 of his 27 points in the first half, making 8-of-12 from the field. Maxey has scored at least 26 points in each of Philadelphia’s first six games, delivering the consistent scoring fantasy managers hoped for from a player who had a first-round ADP.

While Black has been listed at the small forward when they list the starting lineups, he’s effectively the point guard on offense and a wing on defense. He’s proven that he can be a starting point guard in the NBA and in dynasty leagues, his value is very secure. In redraft leagues, if he’s on your waiver wire, he should be worth grabbing until Jalen Suggs comes back.

Poeltl has overall been very underwhelming this season, but he had a very good performance tonight against the Magic. While Poeltl is on the decline, he can still put up numbers at times. The Raptors continue to start him which shows a vote of confidence in him. He’s worth a stream if you need rebounds, but he’s not worth an add in most redraft formats.

Quickley hasn’t been the most efficient in the start of his season, but other than that, he’s been exactly what you would’ve expected. With no Kawhi Leonard, Quickley will need to step up and be more of a scorer. He’s one of the best shooters on the team and he will very important to the team and that was shown by his contract.

Scottie Barnes was carrying the offense in the first half for the Raptors with 23 first half points. No one else on the team which helped Scottie’s value, but it didn’t exactly help the Raptors as the Magic got revenge on this one. Scottie has been an absolute monster this season will continue to put up crazy performances with and without Kawhi Leonard playing.

While relatively quiet scoring-wise, George added value in other ways in the Celtics’ 14-point victory. The eight assists were a season high, and he’s up to 12 steals through five games. Given the amount of time George missed during his two seasons in Philadelphia, there’s still some lingering concern about his availability. But he’s looked pretty comfortable in Boston through the Celtics’ first five games.

It was a typical Michael Porter Jr game where he got you points, rebounds, and not much else. He has gotten you some good steal numbers to start the year, but it’s not likely that it’s going to stick. The Nets struggled to score in this game, especially in the third quarter. You would want more than 9 shot attempts but it was just a bad game for the Brooklyn.

Tatum has scored 23 points or more in each of his last four games, rebounding well after a quiet outing in Boston’s season opener. Against the Bulls, he scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half, shooting 7-of-11 from the field. Tatum cooled off after halftime, but it didn’t matter much as Boston had already built up a large lead. He’ll look to finish the week on a high when the Celtics face the Magic on Sunday.