Fantasy Basketball Minutes Report: Austin Reaves returns, Ace Bailey joins the starting lineup

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.

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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.

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Atlanta Hawks

Nickeil Alexander Walker missed only one game with an injury. He’s playing 29.3 minutes per game in November and will continue to be a big part of the offense with Trae Young sidelined. Vit Krejci has become more involved over the last three games, scoring 18.7 points with 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. There’s not much there besides three-point value.

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Boston Celtics

We had some intrigue with Josh Minott when he played only eight minutes against the 76ers. He did come back and play 22 minutes on Wednesday night, but his minutes being slightly down has led Jordan Walsh to play more minutes as a bigger guard/wing. He’s not particularly usable for fantasy basketball, but it’s worth noting how this rotation is shaking out.

Brooklyn Nets

You’re not really starting anybody here in fantasy, especially with Cam Thomas out for up to a month with an injury. This offense will now run through Michael Porer Jr., but the Nets have also started to give more playing time to young guys like Drake Powell and Egor Dëmin, so those are names to watch in the weeks ahead.

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Charlotte Hornets

Injuries to Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball have shaken up the usage and minutes in Charlotte. Kon Knueppel continues to play tons of minutes and be a big factor on the offense, and Collin Sexton has remained solid enough in his nearly 30 minutes per game to be on most fantasy rosters while Ball and Miller are out. Ryan Kalkbrenner saw his minutes tick down, but that was just a blip, and he remains very much in play thanks ot his rebounding and defensive stats.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have hit a bit of a rough stretch, and Josh Giddey has also been battling an ankle injury after he got absolutely crossed up over the weekend. That has led to a bump in minutes for Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones. Giddey shouldn’t be out for too long, so those guys are not priority adds, and then Ayo Dosunmu continues to be a strong player off the bench for Chicago. We’ll see how the pending return of Coby White (which should be in about two weeks) shakes all this up.

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Cleveland Cavaliers

Darius Garland is dealing with another injury, which has led to an increase in playing time for Jaylon Tyson and Sam Merrill again. The injury isn’t believed to be that significant, so Garland could even return this weekend and get back to his usual minutes. Not much else has changed here.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have all the makings of a disaster. They fired Nico Harrison, and now there are plenty of trade rumors swirling around Anthony Davis, and it’s fair to wonder if he’s already played his last game in a Mavericks uniform. With Dereck Lively II also sidelined and P.J. Washington hurting his shoulder on Wednesday, we could see bigger minutes for Daniel Gafford. We’ve also seen Brandon Williams move into the starting lineup, which has sapped a lot of D’Angelo Russell‘s minutes and fantasy value. Williams is averaging 16.7 points, 6.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.7 steals in three games since he started playing bigger minutes, so that will give you value in a lot of formats.

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Denver Nuggets

The big story in Denver has been the lack of involvement of Cameron Johnson. He has simply not produced on the season like we were hoping, not getting up or making nearly enough three-pointers. He also left Wednesday’s game with a shoulder injury, so that could impact his playing time moving forward. Christian Braun also got hurt on Wednesday, so we could see a whole new rotation by this weekend.

Detroit Pistons

Injuries to Tobias Harris and Isiah Stewart have shaken up the Pistons’ rotation a bit, and then the Pistons rested more starters on Wednesday, so these minutes are a bit all over the place. Daniss Jenkins has been seeing a lot of action in the last two games and is averaging 21 points, 7.5 assists, six rebounds, and three steals over those games. I’m not sure the playing time is going to stick, but it’s been a nice stretch for him.

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Golden State Warriors

Steve Kerr had already said he was going to change things around with his rotations, but then Jonathan Kuminga got hurt on Wednesday as well, so we’ll need to see how that all shakes out. On the surface, it might mean more Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody, so those are names to keep an eye on. We also saw Jimmy Butler come back from missing a few games, and after a poor performance early in the week, he looked like himself on Wednesday.

Houston Rockets

Things have remained pretty consistent for the Rockets so far to start the season. Reed Sheppard has started to find his footing a bit on offense, which has led to an increase in playing time and fantasy value. Of course, he probably has Amen Thompson to thank for that.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers remain riddled with injuries. They did get Andrew Nembhard back in the fold, but Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, and James Wiseman, all remain out due to injury. Johnny Furphy had seen a playing time spike and then he got hurt. You can use Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam in fantasy, but that’s about it.

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

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

Los Angeles Clippers

This feels like a bit of a lost season for the Clippers. John Collins moved into the starting lineup and had one good game and one bad game. Bradley Beal is now out for the season with a hip injury, and Tyronn Lue said pretty publicly that the rotation would change going forward. I guess we can unpack all of that next week.

Los Angeles Lakers

Austin Reaves is back from injury, which is great for the Lakers, but has led to a sharp decline in playing time for Jake LaRavia. However, Marcus Smart has remained in an increased role and has the defensive upside to provide fantasy value.

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Memphis Grizzlies

The Ja Morant situation remains one to watch. He sat out on Wednesday, and it’s pretty clear that there remains some tension here. There just simply isn’t much to do for fantasy purposes while we wait to see how this situation plays out. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Cedric Coward have been great and would take on a bigger role, but there isn’t really anybody else who has emerged onto our radars. Zach Edey also seems likely to return soon, which will hurt Santi Aldama‘s slight value.

Miami Heat

Bam Adebayo’s toe injury has led to a bigger role for Kel’el Ware, who is averaging 12.7 pts, 15 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game since Bam has been out. That would be usable in fantasy leagues, but Bam could return as early as this weekend, so you need to treat Ware like a day-by-day streamer. Jaime Jaquez Jr. remains a key bench piece, even with Norman Powell back.

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Milwaukee Bucks

Ryan Rollins is very real and will remain a fixture in this rotation even when Kevin Porter Jr. returns. The rest of this rotation has been status quo, with Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma seeing a few more minutes due to the Taurean Price injury. That makes both of them a bit more interesting in fantasy, and puts Portis back on radars in the short-term; however, he played just 23 minutes with Giannis resting on Wednesday, so it’s not a great bet.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Not much has changed for the T’Wolves. Anthony Edwards has been back for a week now, so we’ve seen Mike Conley’s minutes steadily decline, but the rest is relatively status quo. Jaden McDaniels is really good, so that’s fun.

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New Orleans Pelicans

Derik Queen continues to deliver as injuries to Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole have opened up more minutes. Both of those players could return as early as this weekend or next week, so it remains to be seen what Queen’s role is after that, but he has certainly played his way into more minutes and should be on rosters while we wait to see how the Pelicans handle playing time with a fully healthy team. Not many other guys saw much of an increase in fantasy value, even with more minutes. I do like Jeremiah Fears, but he’s hard to trust for fantasy right now.

New York Knicks

The biggest story here is that Jalen Brunson left Wednesday night’s game in a walking boot with crutches after he rolled his right ankle late in the fourth quarter. It’s the same ankle that he sprained last season and wound up missing 15 games, so it’s a situation to monitor. Brunson missing any time would lead to significantly more minutes for Miles McBride, but also likely more minutes for Landry Shamet, who has emerged as the first man off the bench for Mike Brown in recent games.

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Oklahoma City Thunder

Chet Holmgren returned from his lower back injury, but is still not yet seeing his full complement of minutes. The Thunder have also been without Lu Dort, who is dealing with a shoulder injury, but the rest has been locked into place. This team is just toying with opponents right now.

Orlando Magic

Paolo Banchero left Wednesday night’s game against the Knicks with a groin injury. While that sounded more precautionary than anything, it could lead to him missing a few games over the weekend or into next week. Franz Wagner took on a bigger role in the offense with Banchero sidelined, as did Anthony Black. We also saw Tyus Jones play more, and the Magic could roll with a lineup that has a legitimate point guard and then rotate all of the other starters over to more natural positions.

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Philadelphia 76ers

An MRI on Joel Embiid’s right knee came back clean, so he is day-to-day, but it remains clear that he can’t be trusted to play big minutes or even play on back-to-back days right now, which should continue to lead to a minutes cap on him. The 76ers are also reportedly close to getting Paul George back from his knee injury, but, in the meantime, the team is going to continue to rely on playing VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Quentin Grimes for tons of minutes.

Phoenix Suns

Jalen Green was back for two games and will now miss potentially the next month with a hamstring injury. The good news is that the Suns got Dillon Brooks back from his groin injury and have slotted him right into big minutes. We’ve also seen Grayson Allen take on a bigger role in the offense, and that should continue with Green sidelined. Ryan Dunn and Collin Gillespie are losing minutes despite Green being out, so perhaps Jordan Goodwin will take those minutes from them. Royce O’Neale should continue to start and have fantasy value.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Portland’s rotation and minutes have remained pretty consistent so far this season. Their top six players have each played in all 11 games, and Kris Murray has only missed one. These are their guys for now.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings are reportedly looking to shake things up and trade away any or all of Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, or DeMar DeRozan, so this whole minutes chart could change drastically in the coming weeks. Keon Ellis is the player who would figure to gain the most fantasy value if he found himself in a bigger role. The Kings have been blown out in four straight games, so that has hurt minutes for some of their older starters, like Russell Westbrook.

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San Antonio Spurs

Not much to say here. Luke Kornet is back from his ankle injury, and De’Aaron Fox returned and stepped right into the Dylan Harper minutes. Stephon Castle is playing tremendous basketball right now, and Devin Vassell saw his minutes go down just because of a migraine issue, so there is no long-term concern there.

Toronto Raptors

Everything is status quo for the Raptors so far.

Utah Jazz

The big news out of Utah is that Ace Bailey has joined the starting lineup. I recorded a video this week with my thoughts on that. Jusuf Nurkić has also stepped into the starting lineup with Walker Kessler out for the season, and I think he can produce decent fantasy value if he can just start hitting some shots.

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Washington Wizards

Bilal Coulibaly is out with an injury again, which has led to increased playing time for CJ McCollum, who delivered big on Wednesday. We know McCollom is capable of putting up solid lines and being useful in fantasy, so now may be the time to scoop him up if he was dropped. The young guys, Tre Johnson, Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, are going to keep playing big minutes all season.