Category: Basketball

The Oklahoma City Thunder are 18-1 with a +16.4 net rating that is the best in NBA history through 19 games — and they are about to get a lot better.

Their All-NBA forward Jalen Williams is officially off the Thunder's injury list and is expected to make his debut Friday when the Thunder take on the Suns in a critical NBA Cup game that will decide West Group 1. Shams Chrainia of ESPN was first with the news.

Williams missed training camp and the start of this season following surgery in July to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, something he had taken great steps to play through last postseason. In October, he had a second surgery on the same wrist to remove a screw that had been irritating him in the wrist.

Last season, Williams averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game while playing strong defense, which earned him his first All-Star and All-NBA nods. Unfortunately, because he missed too many games at the start of this season to reach the league's 65-game threshold, he cannot qualify for postseason awards this season. That means he can "only" make 25% of the salary cap when his contract extension kicks in — his salary will still jump from $6.6 million this season to $41.5 million next season.

Believe it or not, this is something for Warriors fans to be thankful for.

Stephen Curry is expected to miss at least a week, and maybe a little longer, with a quad contusion, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania. That follows what the Warriors reported and what their coach, Steve Kerr, said postgame on Wednesday.

"When I heard it was a quad, I was actually relieved. Better than an ankle or a knee," Kerr said of Curry, who left the game with 32.5 seconds remaining and limped directly to the locker room.

If Curry is out a week, he would miss at least three games: at home against New Orleans and Oklahoma City, followed by going on the road to Philadelphia. Curry is averaging 27.9 points a game, shooting 39.1% from beyond the arc, and it is still his gravity and scoring that is the hub of Golden State's offense — the Warriors' offense has been 10.8 points per 100 possessions worse with Curry off the court this season. Not a good sign for an offense that is already in the bottom 10 in the league with him.

The 10-10 Warriors also are without Jonathan Kuminga, DeAnthony Melton and Al Horford due to injuries.

Welcome to the Fantasy Basketball Minutes Report. Every week, I will be going through each team's updated minutes per game to see which players are seeing the court more or less than in previous weeks. With this information in hand, I'll try to discuss any relevant fantasy risers or fallers; players who we should be adding off waivers or removing from our teams.

The charts below are also great for exploring on your own. You can track the minutes over the last three games, five games, ten games, and for the entire season to see what trends stand out to you.

All of this data was made accessible by Kyle Bland, who is incredibly talented and also incredibly generous, so make sure to give him a follow to check out all of his baseball data as well.

2025-26 Fantasy Basketball Top 200 Rankings: Kawhi Leonard returns, and should we trust Lauri Markkanen?

Check out the latest fantasy basketball rankings update as December approaches.

• Raphielle Johnson,

Atlanta Hawks

Zaccharie Risacher returned from a brief absence last week, and Kristaps Porzingis has also gone back to his regular allotment of minutes, so the only real missing piece remains Trae Young. Meanwhile, Nickeil Alexander-Walker has taken a major leap with Young out, averaging 20 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game over his last eight games, making him a top-60 fantasy player. Porzingis, Oneya Okongwu, and Jalen Johnson also continue to deliver, and the Hawks have been playing well without Young.

Boston Celtics

It seems like Josh Minott has started to cede some of his minutes in the rotation, which makes some sense since he's not really been producing much of the last couple of weeks. Neemias Queta is dealing with an ankle injury, whch is why his minutes have dipped, but he's been solid with 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game over the last two weeks. You don't really need to consider anybody in fantasy here other than Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard.

Brooklyn Nets

Cam Thomas remains out until the middle of December, but the Nets haven't made any major changes to their rotation. Egor Dëmin is starting to see more minutes but is averaging 8.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists over the last two weeks, so there are still major gains to be made before he really impacts what's happening on the court. Noah Clowney has been heating up in his extra minutes, putting up 18.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game over his last six. There's not much for fantasy basketball managers there besides points and blocks, but he's been inching closer to top-100 territory.

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets are getting healthy again with Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball and Collin Sexton all back in the lineup. Ryan Kalkbrenner dealt with a small injury earlier in the week, but he's now back on the floor as well. That has meant fewer minutes for Tre Mann and a slight dip for Kon Knueppel who has been outside the top 100 over the last week (it's just a three-game sample size). Miles Bridges has also seen a bit of a usage hit since Miller and Ball came back, but all three of those guys, plus Knueppel, need to be rostered in all fantasy formats.

Chicago Bulls

Kevin Huerter is dealing with a pelvic issue, which explains his minutes decrease, and Isaac Okoro is battling a back injury, so that's why his minutes have dropped. As a result, we've seen more Ayo Dosunmu and Jalen Smith. Dosunmnu is mostly a scorer off the bench, averaging 17.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists over his last seven games. Tre Jones has come back fro his own ankle injury and stepped into a larger role, putting up 10 points and 11 assists in 28 minutes on Monday.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Sam Merrill is dealing with a hand injury, and Jarrett Allen has a finger injury, so they have both missed time of late; however, Allen was also seeing his minutes reduced a little bit with the Cavs leaning more on Evan Mobley. No player has really stepped up in the rotation over the last few weeks, but Mobley is doing well with his increased usage, posting 16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks per game over the last two weeks, which is top-60 value in fantasy leagues. Darius Garland also returned for two games but then sat out one as he continues to manage a toe injury, so we may have to expect that kind of cautious usage over the next week or so.

Dallas Mavericks

Anthony Davis was back at practice on Wednesday and may be coming back soon. I recorded a video on what that could mean for Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and P.J. Washington, so you can check that out here. Brandon Williams has also been a top-100 player over the last two weeks, averaging 12.3 points, 5.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, so he can be rostered in more places.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets are dealing with injuries to Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun, which has shaken up the rotation a bit. I think Cameron Johnson and Peyton Watson are the big winners here, and I covered that in this video I recorded this week. Gordon should be out another 4-5 weeks, so this is a situation to monitor.

Detroit Pistons

Tobias Harris and Jaden Ivey are back, which means the Daniss Jenkins fun is over. He played well and probably deserves a bigger role in this rotation, but it's simply not happening now that the team is healthy. Ivey is being eased in a bit more than Harris, which makes sense given the nature of his injury, but we should expect his role to grow a bit as the weeks go on. Harris is right back to averaging 14 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 block per game, which is about 130 on the fantasy player ranker. However, his return has also led to yet another dip in production for Ausar Thompson, who is averaging 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in the three games than Harris has been back for.

Golden State Warriors

Jonathan Kuminga remains out and Steph Curry had a quad injury on Wednesday, so we'll need to keep an eye on that going forward. Al Horford is also dealing with sciatica, and I'm not sure I've ever seen two players miss games with sciatica in the same season before. The fringes of the rotation keep changing but nobody is really stepping up apart from Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green. This hasn't been a great start to the season for the Warriors.

Houston Rockets

Tari Eason remains out until the middle of December, and Steven Adams is dealing with an ankle injury. We also had Kevin Durant miss two games this week for personal reasons, which is why you see slight uptick in minutes for nearly everybody else in the rotation. Durant isn't expected to be out for much longer, so things should go back to normal by the end of this week.

Indiana Pacers

Aaron Nesmith remains out, but the rest of the lineup is starting to get healthy. T.J. McConnell is starting to see his minutes tick up now that he's been back for about two weeks, and Jay Huff is starting to get consistent minutes as a big, averaging 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game over the last two weeks. That's elite rim protection, but not much else. Sadly, that has helped to cap Isaiah Jackson's minutes, and it doesn't appear that the breakout is coming.

Fantasy Basketball Week 2 Injury Report: Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards headline the list of sidelined stars

The Pacers, Lakers and Thunder are among the teams with lengthy injury reports at the halfway point of Week 2.

• Raphielle Johnson,

Los Angeles Clippers

Even though Derrick Jones Jr. remains out until the New Year and Bradley Beal is out for the season, the Clippers welcomed back Kawhi Leonard this week, which is a small boost. Kobe Sanders continues to play his normal allotment of minutes, even with Leonard back, and John Collins has remained in the starting lineup, but Collins hasn't been producing in that role. In fact, there's really nobody of interest here for fantasy purposes apart from Leonard, James Harden and Ivica Zubac.

Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James is back and now playing his full allotment of minutes. James, Luka Dončić, and Austin Reaves have all continued to produce together and should remain strong fantasy assets in 30+ minutes per night. For now, Rui Hachimura continues to start, and Marcus Smart has seen his minutes dip, but the Lakers may want Smart as an on-ball defender since they don't really have another one. Deandre Ayton missed a game on Wednesday and had to leave Monday's game early, so his minutes and Jaxson Hayes' minutes have been impacted by that short-term injury.

Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant will be out for at least another week, which means we'll continue to see Vince Williams Jr. be a solid member of this rotation. He's averaging 7.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.5 steals over his last six games, which makes him a top 50 player in fantasy. He should probably be added in most places until Morant is back. Santi Aldama has also started to pick up the pace of late, averaging 16.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game over the last two weeks. He was a trendy name heading into the season, so it's nice to see the production start to come. Zach Edey is currently dealing with a head injury but he shouldn't miss too much more time.

Miami Heat

Tyler Herro is back, but the Heat also played games without Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell this week and Nikola Jović also continues to miss time, so we've yet to see this team at true full strength. We might need another week to see how this rotation truly shakes out.

Milwaukee Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo feels like he's getting closer and closer to getting back onto the court, and we may even see him return this weekend. That would push Jericho Sims back out of the rotation and likely be a hit to Bobby Portis' usage since he has really picked it up over the last few games. Ryan Rollins continues to roll this season, and has been one of the bigger surprises in the league. He needs to be rostered in far more fantasy leagues since he's been a top 30 player all year.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota has probably had the most consistent lineup and rotation of any team in basketball this season. Not much is changing here.

New Orleans Pelicans

Jordan Poole remains out, and Dejounte Murray is out until January, so we're still getting a lot of Jeremiah Fears minutes, and he's been pretty solid, going for 16.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game over the last two weeks. Derik Queen continues to be one of the better rookie stories of the season, but he was on the bench for a lot of the second half on Monday as the team went with the "hot hand" approach, so his spot in the rotation still doesn't feel as solid as we want it to be.

New York Knicks

The Knicks are still without OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet has a shoulder strain that will cost him a month, which means Tyler Kolek has joined the rotation over the last few games. We're still also getting plenty of run from Miles McBride and Jordan Clarkson off the bench, but the overall usage hasn't changed much, with Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mikal Bridges really dominanting things for the Knicks.

Oklahoma City Thunder

We are inching closer and closer to Jalen Williams returning and then we'll see how this rotation truly chakes out. Things have remained pretty consistent in the interim

Orlando Magic

Paolo Banchero remains out for the Magic, which has led to a bump in minutes and usage for Anthony Blackthat I covered here. I think Black needs to remain a big part of this offense. Wendell Carter Jr. missed one game with an ankle injury, but has also played just 22 minutes per game in the last two games he did play as well, in part because Goga Bitadze has earned more minutes. That could become more of a committee job. Jalen Suggs was ejected on Tuesday, which is why his minutes total seems to have fallen in the last three games.

Philadelphia 76ers

We know that Paul George is going to be on a minutes limit and likely won't play back-to-backs for a bit, but he's back on the court, which is nice. VJ Edgecombe is still playing big minutes despite dealing with a calf injury that could keep him out a bit, and we know that Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. remain out for a bit longer. That has allowed Andre Drummond to keep playing enough minutes to be a borderline top 100 player with 9.3 points, 14.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game over his last six games. Tredon Watford also got hurt on Tuesday night and will be out two weeks, which could mean extra minutes for Dominick Barlow.

Phoenix Suns

Jalen Green, Grayson Allen, and Ryan Dunn are all out with injuries, so that has led to extra minutes for Jordan Goodwin and Collin Gillespie. Gillespie has looked pretty good of late, posting 16.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game over the last two weeks. That has been good for top 80 value in fantasy leagues. That production could dip as soon as this weekend when Allen and/or Dunn might return to the floor.

Portland Trail Blazers

Jrue Holiday will be out until the first week of December, and Scoot Henderson remains out til the end of December, so that has led to more minutes for guys like Sidy Cissoko and Caleb Love. Neither one of them is doing a lot with those minutes, and we've actually just seen Jerami Grant's usage tick up. It's been nice to see Donovan Clingan play well of late, averaging 13 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game over his last eight games.

Sacramento Kings

Domantas Sabonis will be out for up to a month with a knee injury, and I covered all the repercussions of that in a video here.

San Antonio Spurs

Dylan Harper returned on Wednesday and should see his minutes tick back up as he gets healthier. Victor Wembanyama is also expected back next week, and Stephon Castle could be back as early as this weekend, so we should see the normal Spurs rotation back very soon.

Toronto Raptors

RJ Barrett is dealing with a knee injury, which could keep him out until the middle of next week, if not longer. That has led to more minutes for Ja'Kobe Walker, but not much value. Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram are taking on a larger scoring role, and Jamal Shead has been doing a bit more facilitating, putting up 6.8 points and 8.0 assists over the last four games, which has him ranked around the top 130. Jakob Poeltl also seems to be turning the corner from his back injury, which has led to an uptick in minutes for him, but his usage is relatively low, so he's more of an asset for rebounds, and the Raptors will continue to monitor him on back-to-backs.

Utah Jazz

Not many changes here for the Jazz over the last week. Isaiah Collier was on a bit of a heater, but that run has started to dwindle, so his minutes have started to decrease a bit. Jusuf Nurkić continues to play consistent minutes with Walker Kessler out, and Kyle Filipowski will spike the odd good game, but there is not much here. Ace Bailey is averaging 15.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 steals over the last three games, so that has been a solid little upturn. He's a name to watch.

Washington Wizards

Marvin Bagley III is battling a hip injury, as is Tre Johnson, which has caused them to miss time. Corey Kispert has seen an uptick in playing time and was shooting the lights out on Tuesday before he hurt his thumb. Few of the guys who have earned minutes because of that have done anything worth discussing, and this team really just revolved around breakouts from Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George and solid production from CJ McCollum, who is averaging 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists over his last six games.