NBA

With Young out, Dejounte Murray should step into the starting PG role, with Bogdan Bogdanovic and AJ Griffin logging some additional minutes. One of Bogey or Griffin will presumably enter the starting lineup, making them interesting streamers.

Suggs left Wednesday’s matchup with Cleveland early due to the ankle injury, and it will cost him at least one game. With Suggs out of action, expect Gary Harris and Cole Anthony to see more playing time. Isaac’s injury doesn’t present an actionable pickup.

After four games on the sidelines, KP will be back in action for the Celtics’ final game of the week, but it’s not known if he’ll handle his usual workload. Al Horford - who had a productive run in the starting five with Porzingis out - will likely head back to the bench.

Alvarado, who played 20 minutes off the bench, brought forth the effort he usually does in Las Vegas. But that didn’t matter much, as the Lakers blew things open in the second quarter and didn’t look back. Alvarado’s rostered in 17% of Yahoo leagues, and his value to the Pelicans’ rotation is far greater than his value to fantasy managers. Unless the Pelicans were to lose CJ McCollum (9/4/2/2 with one 3-pointer in 25 minutes) to injury, there isn’t much to be gained from rostering Alvarado.

Thursday was brutal for New Orleans, with three of the team’s five starters failing to reach double figures. Murphy didn’t have a great night, but he led the team in scoring and has hit double figures in all three of his appearances this season. Regardless of what the Pelicans do with Murphy and starter Herb Jones, both will provide consistent fantasy value. The Pelicans play four games without a back-to-back in Week 8, which should lower the probability of Murphy being held out for injury management reasons.

Jones was among the few Pelicans to put forth a consistent effort on Thursday, even if he only scored 10 points. He’s been one of the top bargains in fantasy basketball, providing 3rd-round value in 9-cat formats after beginning the season with a Yahoo ADP of 134. Even if there comes a point in the season when the Pelicans move Trey Murphy III into the starting lineup to improve the team’s offensive spacing, Jones will still figure prominently in the rotation. Instead of selling high, fantasy managers with Jones rostered should strongly consider holding onto him.

The Pelicans were incredibly poor in Thursday’s In-Season Tournament semifinal, getting outscored by 45 points in the final three quarters. Williamson may have shot the ball well from the field, but he had a tough night at the foul line and did little as a rebounder or defender. Even if his turnovers (2.7 per game) are omitted, Zion still isn’t providing top 100 per-game value in 8-cat formats. The wild card for Williamson in fantasy basketball was supposed to be health, not a lack of production in categories outside of points, assists, and field goal percentage. He’ll look to turn things around when the Pelicans host Minnesota on Monday, the first of four games they’re scheduled to play in Week 8.

Russell and the Lakers didn’t have to work too hard after the first quarter on Thursday, with only Anthony Davis (31) playing more than 23 minutes. He’s outperforming his Yahoo ADP (98) by a considerable margin, with Basketball Monster having D’Lo ranked 67th in 9-cat per-game value. While there are still moments when Russell tends to go off on his own, he fits well alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. An entire offseason and preseason of working alongside the Lakers’ cornerstones appears to have helped.

While Reaves hasn’t produced at the level of his Yahoo ADP (90), he’s been more productive coming off the bench than he was as a starter. In 14 appearances off the bench, he’s averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.4 3-pointers per game, shooting 49.3% from the field and 88.0% from the foul line. Outside of the steals, all of Reaves’ numbers as a reserve are better than what he did in eight starts to begin the season. He’s still capable of cracking the top 100 by season’s end, but the value will be solid even if he doesn’t.

The Lakers hit 17 of their 35 3-pointers in Thursday’s In-Season Tournament semifinal victory, with Prince’s five leading the way. While he’s reached double figures in just three of his last seven outings, the 3-pointers are more important than the points for Prince. He’s hit multiple threes in five of the Lakers’ last six games, providing welcome spacing as part of a lineup headlined by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, Prince, rostered in 13% of Yahoo leagues, remains well outside the top 200 in 9-cat per-game value. And with the Lakers only playing three games in Week 8, now would be a good time for fantasy managers to seek alternatives on the waiver wire.