Last Updated on January 21, 2026 2:33 pm by Mike Passador | Published: January 21, 2026

The biggest fantasy storyline to track on Tuesday night was the new-look Warriors rotation. With Jimmy Butler officially lost for the season with a torn ACL, the Warriors are being forced to retool things on the fly to try and make up for the absence of an All-Star at the roster’s thinnest position. Unfortunately the Warriors didn’t hold up their end of the bargain, falling down by double digits almost immediately and turning the whole game into a blowout. The starters were pulled in the third quarter when the lead ballooned to 30 and while the bench group made things nearly competitive in the fourth, they never got it back to single digits. That means that the numbers we did get aren’t the most meaningful, but there was still some good stuff worth looking at.

Brandin Podziemski moved into the starting lineup, as expected. The scoreboard limited him to 22 minutes but he was solid with 11 points (4-of-10 FG, 2-of-5 FT), three rebounds, two assists, a steal, a block and a 3-pointer. He’s a pickup in 12-teamers with the starting spot.

Next in line is De’Anthony Melton. Back in the lineup after sitting out on Monday, Melton had six points (2-of-6 FG, 2-of-2 FT), three rebounds, five assists and a steal (plus five turnovers) in 20 minutes. He has normally been pushing 25 minutes and would’ve gotten there in a closer game. His stat set is better than Podziemski’s and we would take Melton if given the choice between the two, though you will have to put up with absences and minutes restrictions.

Moses Moody started, as usual, and had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds in 18 minutes. He gets lumped in with a starting group that didn’t do much in the second half and Moody’s pre-Butler injury starting spot gives him the safest deep-league floor of the bunch.

The big question was whether Jonathan Kuminga would be in the picture given the team’s lack of forwards. After 16 straight DNP-CDs, Kuminga turned heads with 20 points in 21 minutes, going 7-of-10 from the field and 5-of-8 at the line with five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a 3-pointer. This was heavily skewed by the blowout as Kuminga had four minutes at halftime and ended up playing the entire fourth quarter while the starters all sat. Gui Santos returned from a left ankle sprain and had three points and two assists in 15 minutes; Santos and Kuminga are basically it as far as forward depth goes.

Will Richard has gotten chances to start on and off this year but finished scoreless in 23 minutes off the bench.

The most notable development was Buddy Hield lighting it up for 25 points in just 19 minutes, hitting 7-of-8 shots and six 3-pointers. He has fallen out of the rotation but has managed three good games in a row, and nobody else on the roster offers his explosive scoring potential. Hield, like Kuminga, ate up when the game was out of reach — those two are the reason it looked borderline respectable — but it’s hard to ignore his recent run of play.

Hopefully the Warriors fare better in the next one and we get some better intel.

Top Pickups

This is the “general must-add” section regardless of the slate. If these players are being overlooked and remain chilling on the waiver wire, consider adding them to your squad.

Reed Sheppard (37%)

You wouldn’t know it based on the lack of respect he gets, but Sheppard is still a top-85 value on the season, and that’s with a big dip in playing time lately. Ime Udoka seems to be going out of his way to try things other than just giving Sheppard minutes — whether that’s because he can’t see what’s in front of him or he’s trying other things because more Sheppard minutes is the card in his back pocket already — including recent dances with Aaron Holiday and JD Davison. On Tuesday Sheppard got his minutes, turning 29 of them into 21 points (8-of-17 FG, 1-of-2 FT), four assists, a steal, a block and four 3-pointers. He was also a team-high plus-15 in a six-point win. Add him.

Julian Champagnie (24%)

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