Grant

Riller

A second-round pick of the Hornets in 2020, Riller has not played in an NBA game since making seven appearances during the 2020-21 campaign. He’ll look to sharpen his skills in China in hopes of a return to the NBA, as there is an out clause in his contract with the Royal Fighters.

Brown has seen NBA action since 2019, but he’s only made it through 41 games at the professional level (and with four different teams), so we can’t get too excited. Reigning G League MVP Trevelin Queen has looked good this SL but really struggled with his stroke tonight, hitting just 6-of-19 shots and missing all ten of his triples for a 16/6/4 line with seven giveaways, and he’s the guy out of the pair to at least keep an eye on for fantasy purposes. Philly’s scoring was pretty well-rounded tonight with five guys reaching double figures, highlighted by Grant Riller’s continued solid play that saw him go for 19 efficient points and three triples on Saturday.

He led the team on Wednesday as well with 16 points, so things are going pretty well for the second-year guard. He didn’t do much at all in his first professional season, playing just 7.4 minutes per game in 10 appearances for the Rockets, but the one time he played over 15 minutes, he went off for 17 points, six boards, four steals and four triples, so the upside could be there. The Sixers have plenty of mouths to feed as it stands, so there’s no need to use a draft pick on him, but keep an eye on him in case he beats out guys like Furkan Korkmaz and Isaiah Joe (14/5/3 with four steals and four triples tonight) for backup guard minutes, which isn’t out of the question by any means. Grant Riller was the third and final double-digit scorer on Philly’s side, finishing with an efficient 18 points with a pair of makes from downtown.

Harris, Thybulle, and Milton are all dealing with minor injuries that should not keep them off the court once the real games begin. Riller on the other hand had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, but he is expected to be re-evaluated soon to determine a timetable of when he can return to the court. Thybulle could return to practice as early as Thursday per Pompey.

Shake Milton (ankle) and Grant Riller (knee) will also be unavailable for tonight’s exhibition, so it’ll be interesting to see who gets the start at point guard. There’s a decent chance we’ll see a good amount of Isaiah Joe tonight.

Riller will be re-evaluated in two weeks according to reports. He was one of the Sixers’ two-way players, so from a fantasy perspective, this doesn’t impact much at all. While Riller is out, Shake Milton, Jaden Springer and Tyrese Maxey will likely get more minutes at the point.

Riller starred at the College of Charleston in the Colonial Athletic Association, scoring over 2,000 points in his four-year stint before beginning his professional career with the Charlotte Hornets in the 2020-2021 season. Riller failed to ever really crack the rotation in Charlotte, and will now look to do so in Philadelphia.

Wanamaker played 21 minutes before leaving Wednesday’s loss to the Cavaliers with the ankle injury. Should he not be able to play Friday night, rookie Grant Riller (DNP-CD Wednesday) stands to be moved into the rotation. He hasn’t played much this season, so there’s no reason to roll the dice on Riller as a streaming option.

The veteran finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. He was shaking his head while being attended to by a team trainer, so we expect him to pop up on the injury report prior to Friday’s game vs. the Nets. We’ll list him as ‘questionable’ and if he does miss time it would mean Grant Riller could get bumped into the guard rotation out of sheer necessity.

It’s another tough blow for Monk and the Hornets’ backcourt. Without Monk and LaMelo Ball (fractured wrist), Borrego said the team will get “creative” to generate offense night to night. Brad Wanamaker could play a prominent role with the second unit, while Cody Martin and Caleb Martin should also step into more minutes. As Borrego’s comments suggest, though, it may be hard to pin down which guy will benefit the most in a given matchup.