Once again, we find ourselves on the precipice of the greatest, most festive day in all of December… the NBA Cup Championship Game. Or at least I *think* that’s what it’s called. It could also be the “NBA Cup Finals” or the “NBA Cup Final”, because I’ve legitimately seen tomorrow’s game referred to both of those things as well. Also, the fact that there’s probably no one reading this who definitively knows the official name of the title game of the NBA Cup is an indicator of how many, err, wrinkles this tournament still needs to iron out.
For fantasy purposes, if there’s one thing the 2025 NBA Cup solidified in my mind, it’s that it’s a smart idea to plan ahead to use streamers during NBA Cup elimination round weeks in the coming years. Since the NBA likes to clear out the schedule so that Cup elimination games can air exclusively, there were days in which four or fewer games were played five times in the last week – which is a noticeable amount of games shrinkage. This means that if you were using streamers last week to maximize games played and your opponent wasn’t, you very well might owe some category wins to those additions, if only because of how few people actually played last week. (One might question the wisdom of the NBA completely deadening part of its schedule for the sake of a tournament that you can’t even watch on TV and that most people don’t know basic aspects of, but that’s for another day.)
Anyway, let’s go to the weekend game recaps, shall we?
Other notes:
Josh Hart had a 12-6-6-3-1 line in an all-important NBA Cup semifinals game on Saturday. He’s been awesome lately after getting off to a rather lousy start to the season, proving once again that it’s (mostly) good to have patience in fantasy.
Steph Curry had one of the greatest shooting nights in NBA history on Sunday, scoring 48 points and going 12-19 for three. His rebounds, assists and steals might all be down from his peak days, but he’s still elite in the areas you’d expect him to be and should more than justify his preseason draft ranking so long as he stays healthy.
Quinten Post had 11 points and 4 assists in a start on Sunday. He’s been playing decent of late, but his upside is too limited and the Warriors rotation changes too frequently outside of their big three for him to be of much use consistently.
Jonathan Kuminga received yet another healthy DNP and hasn’t seen action in over a week – which is a wild swing for someone who averaged 18-8-4 in the month of October. Kuminga obviously isn’t worth going near right now, but if he can get traded to another team, he has a chance to be fantasy relevant with them right away. The talent is there, even if it’s never fully clicked in the NBA.
Marcus Smart put up 8-6-4-1-2 in 32 minutes against the Suns – not gaudy numbers to be sure, but he’s a decent streamer while Austin Reaves is out if you’re looking for someone who can put up a hodgepodge of stats.
Even with Devin Booker returning, Collin Gillespie stayed in Phoenix’ starting five and had 10 points and 6 assists in 37 minutes versus the Lakers. Gillespie’s numbers might not be extraordinary when the Suns are fully healthy, but the playing time is gonna be there and he’s been awfully productive through the first quarter of the season. He’s worth owning in leagues even if you don’t need to marry yourself to him.
Zion Williamson returned to the Pelicans lineup and produced 18 points and 6 assists against the Bulls. If you have Zion in fantasy and you really, really need him to not miss any more games this season, I have looked into my crystal ball and I have terrible news for you.
Keegan Murray had an usual line of 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks on Sunday. It’s been over two weeks since he scored 20 in a game, but his ability to put up gaudy defensive numbers and the likelihood of him being the last King left after a firesale make him more than worthy of a buy-low bid if you’re able to make one.
Joel Embiid scored 35 against Atlanta on Sunday. He’s played terrific lately and has even totaled 30 minutes in each of his last four outings. I would sell high on him for reasons that are pretty self-evident if at all possible.
