Last Updated on November 7, 2025 5:00 pm by Keston Paul | Published: November 7, 2025

Nearly three weeks in the books, so you know the drill by now.

Injuries to Watch

Impending Evaluations

Zion Williamson (left hamstring) should be evaluated next week and we should get an update on a return-to-play timeline (or they will just say he is out “at least two more weeks” or something.

Keegan Murray (left hand) should be evaluated next week. He could be viewed as a low-end 9-cat stash if you have the spare adds, but he isn’t a guy you have to go out and grab yet. If you have the spare adds however, feel free to do it.

Brandon Clarke (right knee) should be re-evaluated by the end of next week. He might be zapped of fantasy upside after so many lower-body injuries though. He clearly just has bad knees now and he had an Achilles injury back in 2023, so all of that added up together might make him shaky, even for deep leagues.

We might hear something on Jaden Ivey (right knee) at the end of next week, but that might be a “ramping up and aiming to return in two weeks” type of update.

Georges Niang (left foot) should be evaluated within the next few days. He is always a deep-league source of triples if the Jazz decide to utilize him. Another PF might not be fun for Taylor Hendricks and Kyle Filipowski, but the Jazz should be prioritizing their young talent. “Should” is not a guarantee, unfortunately.

Timelines Getting Close

Zach Edey (left ankle) has been practicing in the G League and should return fairly soon. New head coach Tuomas Iisalo used him a lot more than former head coach Taylor Jenkins did at the end of last season, so he is an IL/IR stash if you have the space. However, I think we should also acknowledge that this is a huge man coming off ankle surgery, so he could be eased in slowly. Still, I think the upside for big-man stats is palpable enough to take the swing wherever he is available.

TJ McConnell (left hamstring) was ruled out for “at least one month” on October 9, so we are a few days away from the earliest potential update on a return. Pacers rookie Kam Jones (back) is being re-evaluated on November 9 himself. Jones may or may not be a thing for deep leagues given how shorthanded the team is in terms of guard play. McConnell has a path to 12-team value, but isn’t a must-add player until we get good news. If McConnell is hanging around on waiver wires in 14-team leagues or deeper however, he is a definite stash.

De’Aaron Fox (hamstring) is past his initial timeline to return by the end of October, but we haven’t gotten a real update yet. Hopefully he is back soon.
Update: The announcement that Fox is back came right after this was posted.

Gabe Vincent (left ankle) could be close if he is more on the two-week end of the 2-4 week timeline. Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee) should also be close but isn’t guaranteed to be a fantasy impact guy. Vincent is a shaky fantasy player too (only good when he has a hot hand), but would negatively impact Marcus Smart and company when he returns.

Other Injury Notes

Bam Adebayo (toe) is day-to-day according to the Heat.

Anthony Davis (left calf) was called day-to-day on Wednesday and was “upgraded” to doubtful for Friday. A return should be imminent.

On Tuesday, Billy Donovan said the Bulls hope Coby White (calf) can play “in a couple weeks” and also hope he can “practice by next week.” At the time of the comment, White was only doing individual work like start-stop movements, cutting and conditioning.

On Wednesday, Jason Kidd said they are hoping to get Dereck Lively II (knee) back next week.

Bennedict Mathurin (right foot) and Andrew Nembhard (left shoulder) both have murky timelines and could return at any point. That makes them tough to stash, but have them on your watch-list if they are on the wire. Be ready to pull the trigger.

Let’s also not forget that Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle) exists, as with a murky timeline he can pop up at any time and begin taking minutes from guys we actually like for fantasy in Houston. He should have a role, but that doesn’t mean you should make any wild moves right now.

Paul George (left knee) could also be back at any time. We know he has been practicing fully since the regular season kicked off.

Scoot Henderson (left hamstring) has a broad 4-8 week timeline but is about five weeks into it, so he may or may not appear soon. I think I’d lean closer to 6-8 weeks, however. You aren’t stashing Henderson right now.

Schedule Breakdown

The number of games played will dictate weekly lineups, but if you have fringe 12-team players from a team with two games in daily lineup formats, you may want to consider dropping them and streaming their spot instead.

Weekly Info

Daily Info

Looking for more help with your lineup and streaming decisions? Check out our Fantasy Basketball Tools! 

Values Have Not Settled Yet

Here is a snippet from my Season Segments Analysis article for our Draft Guide.

Desmond Bane 2024-25 Season in Segments

You can see that Bane was awful through the first 14 games, which is the period from the start of the 2024-25 season to the first week of December (first six weeks). He than gave us second-round value the rest of the way, finishing with third-round value on paper. Bane is off to a bad start again and he is also adjusting to a new team. Even if we want to say Bane will be worse in Orlando, I think we can still say top-50 or even top-60 upside is easily attainable as a conservative estimate with the known upside to be even better than that. What I am saying is, don’t make a rash move if you have Bane. If you don’t have Bane, we are still in buy-low territory.

Tyrese Haliburton is not playing this season, but I am going to use his poor start in 2024-25 to add to my argument. Values have not settled yet!

To finish off, I also have an example pertinent to this season with Nikola Vucevic, one the greatest fantasy trolls of all time. Here is Vuc getting off to a hot start in 2024-25 before cooling off a bit:

Pay close attention to percentages. Whether worse or better than expected, a lot of them may not be sustainable. That isn’t to say players don’t decline or improve. However, a 35-year-old feels less likely to give you a career season. A 35-year-old also feels more likely to fall off and decline than a guy in his prime years who is off to a bad start.

Other numbers to pay attention to are minutes and defensive stats. Changes in those areas can also impact overall value significantly. Points and threes are directly linked to percentages, but minutes are also a factor for those and for rebounds or assists. Defensive stats are quite volatile as a low-volume stat. One big game early on could make those numbers look juicier than they should be. A few bad games could also have a player’s defensive stats below expectations.

Numbers should start ironing out themselves better in mid-December, but for some players with especially good or bad starts, their rankings won’t be close to expectations until mid-January. Jalen Duren did not get going until January last season himself, so be patient.

Here is Duren’s 2024-25 season segments for good measure.

  Join our Discord:  Click Here to Join!

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

Keston Paul

Keston majored in Biology and minored in Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), St. Augustine. Hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, Kes grew up loving cricket, then football (soccer, not NFL) & never missed a Barça game in the 2010s. Later on, he grew obsessed with basketball/fantasy basketball & unfortunately claims to be a Sixers fan for some reason.

• Fantasy Basketball Daily Cheat Sheet: Sunday, November 9th Streamers & Adds
• Fantasy Basketball Week Ahead: Sleeper Adds & Week 4 Schedule
• Fantasy Basketball Points Leagues: Week 3 Adds, Drops, Buys & Sells