Harrison

Barnes

While the Spurs used a balanced scoring effort to leave New Orleans with a three-point victory, there were stretches in which Barnes was asked to take the lead. The veteran forward answered the call, scoring 24 points after totaling 18 on 7-of-19 shooting in his previous two appearances. Rostered in 20 percent of Yahoo! leagues, Barnes has provided 10th-round value in eight-cat formats, exceeding his ADP (139) by a decent margin. Next up for the Spurs is an NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup with the Lakers on Wednesday.

It doesn’t happen often, but Barnes is certainly still capable of big offensive nights like this one. He led all scorers in this game while also setting a new season-high for points. Barnes has a better nine-cat value than he typically does, mostly because he is posting career highs in both steals and three-pointers per game. He’s currently available in 83 percent of Yahoo! leagues, but he should be worth rostering in standard leagues as long as Victor Wembanyama remains out.

Harper will return following a 10-day absence, though it’s unclear if he’ll face any restrictions in his first game back. De’Aaron Fox should continue to lead the backcourt, but Harper could see big minutes until Steph Castle (hip) returns. Harper could steal some offensive usage from Harrison Barnes.

If the Spurs were searching for a closer with Victor Wembanyama out, Barnes stepped up to fill the void on Tuesday. With the Spurs trailing by a point with just over three minutes remaining, the veteran forward went on a personal 7-0 run to reclaim control of the game. Keldon Johnson and De’Aaron Fox would score baskets to cap the victory, but Barnes’ performance is what won the game. Rostered in 15 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he’s scored 20 points or more in two straight games. Barnes is providing top-100 value in nine-cat formats and is worth a roll of the dice with Wembanyama unavailable.

Having totaled 12 points in San Antonio’s first two games, Champagnie contributed a baker’s dozen against the Nets. He certainly has fans within the Spurs organization, and with good reason. Champagnie’s a good defender who can contribute solid perimeter shooting. He shot 3-of-4 from beyond the arc on Sunday, helping to compensate for Harrison Barnes (4/3/1) missing all five of his attempts. Champagnie should remain a starter until De’Aaron Fox (hamstring) returns, with Jeremy Sochan’s (wrist) absence also boosting his value in deep leagues.

This will be a second straight absence for Sochan to start the season. Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes started at the forward spot in the season opener, and with no changes to the injury report, they should occupy those same roles once again.

With Harrison Barnes shut down at halftime, Mamukelashvili started the second half of Friday’s game. The 2021 second-round pick had a productive night, shooting over 50 percent from the field and finishing one block shy of a complete stat line. Since Barnes is looking to play all 82 games, he’ll likely start Sunday’s game against the Raptors. But there should still be plenty of playing time available to Mamukelashvili, who can provide value in those situations.

Champagnie started Friday’s game as Devin Vassell was out with a sore left ankle. Add in Harrison Barnes (two points, five rebounds and one assist) only playing 15 minutes, and there was ample room for Champagnie to put up numbers. He’s scored 20 points or more in four games this season, one more than his first two NBA seasons combined. While Barnes will likely start Sunday’s season finale against the Raptors, his minutes will likely be limited since the goal is to play all 82 games. That raises Champagnie’s ceiling, especially if Vassell remains out.

Barnes, who won a championship with the Warriors before the team upgraded to Kevin Durant to win more championships, hit the game-winning three-pointer as time expired against his former team Wednesday. That had to feel good for Barnes personally. The 32-year-old power forward continues to put up solid scoring games down the stretch of this season, though it’s impossible to count on Barnes having this role next year when the Spurs return to full strength.

It has been an impressive month of April for Barnes. This was his fifth game of the month, and he has scored at least 20 points in four of them, with a 17-point performance sprinkled in. The 32-year-old is not known for being a valuable asset in fantasy basketball, but he has been effective lately. He’ll look to carry this hot shooting into Golden State on the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday. Managers shouldn’t expect Barnes to produce anywhere near this level next season.