NBA Player News

Maluach hasn’t seen the floor much during his rookie season, but over their last three games, he has played a significant role in two of them. He grabbed 14 rebounds in each, and he averaged 2.5 blocks during them, but he was much better offensively in this one. He set a new career high for scoring and knocked down multiple triples. Maluach won’t turn 20 until September and still has loads of upside. He isn’t ready to contribute for the Suns right now, but he is worth stashing in dynasty formats.

Grant hasn’t played since March 27 as he’s dealt with a calf strain. The 32-year-old power forward is questionable, which at least gives him a chance of suiting up for Tuesday’s game against the Suns. If Grant is out again, Scoot Henderson should start again for the Trail Blazers.

Larsson is listed as questionable with a right lower leg contusion. Nikola Jovic (ankle) and Dru Smith (foot) are out, but otherwise the Heat have a healthy roster heading into the Play-In Tournament.

Borrego was 24-46 as interim head coach after taking over for Willie Green, who was fired last November. Prior to that, Borrego was the associate head coach under Green and he previously spent four years as the Hornets head coach, going 138-163 with no playoff appearances. While Borrego will be included in the search for a new Pelicans head coach, he seems like a long shot to land the job. He had plenty of time to make an impression this season and the Pelicans were more than 20 games below .500 on his watch.

Shams notes that Dončić and Austin Reaves (oblique) are unlikely to be available for the Lakers’ first-round series against the Rockets. Filling the void left by LA’s superstars will be no easy task, and the Lakers will tackle the issue using a platoon approach. Luke Kennard, Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura should be the next men up in the rotation.

Hachimura has been on a hot streak recently, having scored in double figures in five straight games. However, this was his best game of the stretch, as it was his highest-scoring outing since January and his first double-double of the season. With the status of Luka Dončić (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) up in the air, Hachimura will be a vital piece for the Lakers against the Rockets in the first round.

The Spurs were already locked into their playoff seed and Fox wasn’t having an efficient game, but he still played 33 minutes in the regular season finale. San Antonio still managed to lose the game to a Nuggets team that played Nikola Jokic fewer than 20 minutes. Fox still had a good game, adding in rebounds, assists and a block, which he tends to do when Victor Wembanyama is out. In his first full season with the Spurs, Fox has provided seventh-round per game value.

It has been an up-and-down first year with the Lakers for Ayton, but he ended the regular season on a high note. This was his first 20-point double-double in a month, and he was also able to make an impact as a shot blocker. The health of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves are the two biggest questions for the Lakers right now, but Ayton will also be a big factor for them. He’ll be matched up with Alperen Sengun in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday.

Knecht hasn’t played much during his second season in the league, but he got the opportunity in the blowout win. He took advantage and stuffed the stat sheet, but he’ll likely be back on the bench for the playoffs. Still, this was a productive game for him, and it may lead to a team being interested in making a trade for him this offseason, which is the clearest path to him being a rotation player.

Strawther had almost a repeat performance of his game in the win over the Thunder on Friday. The 23-year-old small forward started, led the Nuggets with 34 minutes, dropped 20 points and hit four three-pointers. Sound familiar? Strawther is likely to be just a depth option as the Nuggets head into the playoffs.

Mbeng played all 48 minutes for the second time in his last three games. During this stretch, he averaged 22.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 4.3 steals in 44.7 minutes per game. It has been an impressive run for Mbeng, who signed standard contract last week after playing on two 10-day deals. However, if they do keep him around next season, he won’t play that large of a role.