Last Updated on January 2, 2026 6:31 pm by Mike Passador | Published: January 2, 2026

It’s hard to say that Week 11 was a particularly fun one for anyone besides Kawhi Leonard managers, as major injuries ruled the day. Fantasy managers are scrambling a little bit to replace some of the high-powered names who are out of the lineup, and in some cases to replace the replacements. Week 12 almost can’t possibly be worse, so we have that going for us. Here’s how we’re attacking things, from the injury landscape to the schedule breakdown to a few players we’ll be keeping a close eye on in the near future.

Injuries to Watch

Impending Evaluations

Jrue Holiday (right calf strain) has been cleared for on-court activities. Finally, some good news, although it still feels like we’re weeks away from Holiday returning. At least he’s ahead of Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear), who won’t be reevaluated for another two weeks.

Zach LaVine (left ankle sprain) was due for an evaluation this week but the Kings haven’t provided an update. That’s not a great sign but we should hear something soon one way or another.

Jakob Poeltl (back strain) was given a week off to rest his ailing back and hopefully that will do the trick, as the previous half measures only ensured that Poeltl was half effective. The Raptors are scheduled to provide another update on Monday.

Franz Wagner (left ankle sprain) was said to miss 2-to-4 weeks with the injury, suffered back on December 8. We’re at right about four weeks and while coach Jamahl Mosley said earlier this week that there’s no official return timeline, we should be close.

Jalen Green (left hamstring strain) is due for an evaluation within the next week or so after he got hurt back on November 8. On December 22 it was reported that Green would be evaluated in 2-to-3 weeks, so keep your fingers crossed there’s good news on the horizon.

Isaiah Hartenstein (right calf strain) is back on the shelf with his second right calf strain of the season. The first one cost him six games and the Thunder announced a two-week evaluation timeline; the second one has already cost him two and the team hasn’t said anything so far. That makes it seem like they’re treating this as a day-to-day situation.

Aaron Gordon (right hamstring strain) was set for a 4-to-6 week evaluation date back on November 23. Christian Braun (left ankle sprain) was supposed to be evaluated six weeks from November 14. That was seven weeks ago to the day. Both players returned to non-contact practice work in mid-December. The Nuggets need all the help they can get and you should start thinking about Gordon and Braun as preemptive pickups if they were dropped in your leagues.

Timelines Getting Close

Trae Young has been on and off the injury report with a right quad issue of late, but we’ll talk more about him later in the article.

Michael Porter Jr. has missed the last two games for illness but we’re not expecting anything serious here.

Ryan Kalkbrenner will miss his sixth straight game on Friday as his left elbow injury continues to linger. There’s not much to do but hope that he’s back soon and start Moussa Diabate in the meantime.

Jalen Duren (right ankle) left the last game while Tobias Harris (hip sprain) got hurt the game before. Make sure Isaiah Stewart has been added in all of your leagues, even if it’s only a short-term bump.

Kyshawn George (left hip flexor strain) has missed the last three games. The Wizards aren’t saying much here but they recently did the same for an Alex Sarr injury, and he was back relatively quickly just after it started to feel like he had no true timeline for return.

Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George have been on and off the injury report over the last couple of weeks. Markkanen is the more concerning player since he’s getting tagged with groin injury management, while George has been battling an illness in the last handful of days. It’s going to be a day-to-day saga here as the Jazz shift towards focusing on their lottery odds.

Victor Wembanyama (left knee hyperextension) won’t play on Friday despite him saying he was good to go, which is no surprise. The Spurs are going to be extremely cautious here but the general vibe is that Wemby might not be out for long.

Jerami Grant (left Achilles tendinitis) is day-to-day. That was probably the best news in Portland’s big news dump on Thursday.

Other Injury Notes

Burying the lede here but Nikola Jokic is out a minimum of four weeks with a left knee hyperextension, and that’s actually in the books as good news. Jonas Valanciunas was a strong pickup option but suffered a right calf strain is his first start and will also miss a minimum of four weeks. The Nuggets are very thin at center and might be looking for outside help.

Cam Johnson won’t be of help, as he is also due to miss a minimum 4-to-6 weeks with a right knee hyperextension.

Josh Hart (right ankle sprain) remains out with no official timeline to return. The Knicks ruled him out for their three-game road trip but he’s also missing their first game back home, so it’s hard to say exactly when he might be back.

Herb Jones (right ankle sprain) is in the same boat, only the Pelicans didn’t rule him out for any set length of time like the Knicks did with their three-game trip.

Devin Vassell (left adductor strain) will miss “more than a game or two,” according to Mitch Johnson. Expect a week-to-week situation here.

Tyler Herro (right big toe contusion) has missed eight games in a row and 10 of the last 11. He is reportedly “making progress” but fantasy GMs will believe it when they see it.

Austin Reaves (right calf strain) is about three weeks from his reevaluation date, and it sure looks like the Lakers rushed him back from his first calf issue.

Domantas Sabonis (left meniscus tear) is due for an evaluation at the end of the month. Who knows what the Kings decide to do as they sink to the bottom of the standings.

Obi Toppin (right foot surgery) is set for at least another month on the sidelines, but the most recent reporting is that he’s out of his walking boot. Just something to keep in the back of your mind as the Pacers continue to lose.

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

Monday: 8 games
Tuesday: 6 games
Wednesday: 12 games
Thursday: 4 games
Friday: 10 games
Saturday: 6 games
Sunday: 10 games

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Players to Watch

Rather than outline more pickups, we’re going to take a second and shout out five players that we’re interested in watching a little more closely for one reason or another in the coming weeks.

Trae Young

Young is in the center of lots of trade chatter and the Hawks seem to be swayed by the fact that they’re winning just as much — if not more — when he isn’t in the lineup. In previous seasons, Young’s offense was enough to compensate for his weak defense, but this year he has struggled to stay above water. The first major injury of his career hasn’t helped and there’s still time to turn it around, but it does feel like he’s increasingly on the chopping block with each passing game. Young is a divisive player but one who would have no shortage of trade suitors in a vacuum, but his contract situation and current form make him a net negative asset. Can Young play his way back into the black, or even into Atlanta’s long-term plans again?

Jordan Poole

The Pelicans are starting to get healthy (Friday’s injury report notwithstanding) after some major injury troubles and they simply have too many cooks for the kitchen. The team isn’t good but it does have more than five starting-caliber players to work with. Poole has drawn the short straw so far and has been stuck in a bench role of late, but he has managed to outplay rookie Jeremiah Fears in the last handful of games. Giving Poole more minutes would only serve to increase his trade value, and while he has been solid in a sixth man capacity, the Pelicans might not want to promote him over Fears for the sake of long-term development. As long as Poole keeps his head down and keeps balling, he should be alright for fantasy. The better he plays, the stronger his odds are of finding stability one way or another.

DeMar DeRozan

The Kings are going nowhere fast and have to confront the reality that the rest of the league is not interested in the players they have on the contracts they have awarded. The one possible exception is DeRozan, who is simply standing out by virtue of not getting hurt so far. Right now the Kings are asking him to play a major role, though his scoring game has still been a little up and down as Sacramento’s rotation is constantly changing around him. The longer he stays with the Kings, the greater the chances that DeRozan ends up holding a smaller role by the end of the season. The better he plays now, the more likely it is that some team (the Clippers are a popular mock destination) swings a trade. DeRozan could move now and end up with a more stable floor but a lower ceiling, or stay with the Kings and sport a higher short-term ceiling and a lower late-season floor.

Mikal Bridges

Bridges started the season in scorching fashion and was a legitimate top-10 value through the first few weeks. He has predictably settled into more of a middle-round lane but there’s going to be a little pocket of time for him to heat up again. Josh Hart’s absence opens a void for all the dirty work in New York’s starting five, and it’s the hustle stats that turn Bridges from a very good fantasy player into an elite one. A recent five-game run that saw Bridges post one block and no steals was the low point of his campaign, but he is back to his usual tricks with six steals and two blocks in the four games since. Without Hart around to fly all over the court and hog those steals and blocks, Bridges could be in for an uptick.

DaRon Holmes

The Nuggets have lost their all-world center and his primary backup within the span of a week, not to mention the injuries that have already ravaged their forward ranks. Unless outside help is coming, we might see DaRon Holmes get his shot. Over the years we have learned that Zeke Nnaji isn’t the answer, no matter what his contract looks like, and the Nuggets let two-way center PJ Hall go over the summer. Holmes was drafted with a day-one role in mind before tearing his Achilles in Summer League last year so it’s not shocking that he’ll be given a chance to establish himself. This is a deep-league situation to start out but whether Holmes can sink or swim will have a pretty big impact on how the rest of Denver’s season unfolds.

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Mike Passador

Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.

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