I hope all you guys fared well in the winter storm. My gosh, I hate ice storms. We were lucky in Eastern NC to just have a cold disgusting rain, but could have been much worse.
You know who can’t be much worse? The…
Pacers
Jay Huff played 3 minutes against the Hawks. Three. Insanely productive, with a three pointer, rebound, and assist. If you are in a per minute rate league, he’s golden in games like this. But unfortunately, you can’t count on the guy anymore. I reluctantly say you can move on. Jarace Walker played 30 instead, and did have 5 steals.
I’m over the Pacers. It’s going to get worse after the deadline as they pursue lottery odds, since it’s a lost season. Keep an eye on Benedict Mathurin if he’s dealt.
That felt good. Now, let’s all go back to ignoring the Pacers for a while.
Celtics
Sam Hauser has to be picked up, right? Guy is shooting three pointers at will. Guys who shoot lots of three pointers tend to make a few here and there. In fact, since 2026 started, he’s not hit less than 2 in a game, and in one glorious outburst went off for 10. As a starter he’s 12-4-2 and averaging over 3 made three pointers per game. Go ahead and ride it in all leagues.
Wolves
This is the team to watch for at the deadline. They have very little in guard depth after the obvious superstar Anthony Edwards. Whoever they acquire will likely get 30 minutes from the jump. Please, please, don’t pick up any of the depth pieces (no, not Bones Hyland, you silly fantasy owner) currently on Minnesota. This has been a public service announcement.
Magic
They just can’t get healthy, poor kids. Franz Wagner is sitting with an ankle injury management thing. Anthony Black is starting. Wendell Carter finally vanquished Goga Bitazde in the great Orlando center race. Jalen Suggs is playing, but only shot 2-13 in his last game. I’m out until he gets some consistent healthy time.
Bulls
If you hurry, you can get the Bulls who have four games in five nights coming up. Of course, they won’t all play every game because they’re the Bulls and they have soft tissue injury issues. Here’s the breakdown:
Start:
- Coby White, likely to miss a game in there due to calf injury management
- Josh Giddey: also likely to miss a game or two, but worth running out there
- Jalen Smith: Safe for all 5 unless a new injury arises
- Nikola Vucevic: If you want to sell out your basketball fan soul, yes he puts up numbers
- Nah:
- Isaac Okoro: Not a shooter. Not really a fantasy asset except in deep leagues
- Tre Jones: Out
- Kevin Huerter: Bad
- Patrick Williams: LOL
Suns
This is the new Orlando Magic center situation. Mark Williams starts, but Oso Ighodaro plays a decent amount of minutes, just enough to leech Williams’ value out. Khaman Malauch languishes in the G League, and Nic Richards is probably praying for a trade. That’s four centers, and none of these guys have the skill set to play the 4. How will this shake out?
Mark Williams is the preferred fantasy player. He only dunks, so the FG% is at 65. More volume of that is quite helpful. 8 rebounds, a steal and block, those are solid fantasy numbers. And he’s doing this in just 24 minutes per game! Health of course has been an issue the past two seasons, and they’re likely looking to preserve him for their playoff push. But for owners, getting his minutes to 28-30, that’s a 15-10 line with great shooting and 2 blocks per game.
Keep an eye on Nic Richards at the deadline. The Suns need punch in the backcourt (Devin Booker and Jalen Green are out) and could flip one of these big men for a guard. The Bulls would be a great landing spot for any of these guys, and the Suns could use a Coby White. We shall see! Richards did receive a DNP-CD, likely to preserve the health.
