Last Updated on January 23, 2026 3:38 pm by Keston Paul | Published: January 23, 2026

Week 15 is a fairly balanced week, with the added twist of a rescheduled Heat-Bulls game. How do you navigate this? Read on below!

Injuries to Watch

This is for January 26 to February 1.

Impending Evaluations

Kristaps Porzingis (left Achilles tendinitis) should be re-evaluated early in this week. I wouldn’t rely on him coming back, but you could get a nice boost in the week if he returns.

Zaccharie Risacher (left knee bone contusion) will also be re-evaluated sometime this week, but it feels unlikely he will play unless it’s at the very end of the week.

Darius Garland’s (Grade 1 right great toe sprain) reported timetable should have him looked at this week. Given the amount of time he’s missed this season, we would expect him to be out.

Timelines Getting Close

On January 14th, it was reported that Nikola Jokic (left knee hyperextension) was on track to return near the end of January. This week happens to be the end of January! Be on the lookout for a clearer status.

Head coach JJ Redick said that Austin Reaves (Grade 2 left gastrocnemius strain) would play sometime during the Lakers 8-game road trip. That extends past Week 15, so it is a 50/50 chance you get Reaves playing towards the end of this week.

Is this the week Ty Jerome (high-grade right calf strain) finally returns? The good news is that his reported timeline had him returning around this time. The bad news is that that report was from November 22nd.

Jose Alvarado (left oblique strain) was set to to miss about two more weeks circa January 12th. Two weeks from that point would be January 24th…but one wonders if the Pelicans will rush him back.

Other Injury Notes

I would be monitoring Franz Wagner some. His left ankle (the one where he had the recent high ankle sprain) was said to be quite sore via head coach Jamahl Mosley. Don’t be surprised if he misses out early in the week.

Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus strain) is without any clear timetable…unless you count “spotted doing conditioning work” as a clear update. I cannot, so Hartenstein’s status is up in the air.

Can someone point me to news on Devin Vassell (left adductor strain)? On December 31st, it was said he will be out more than a game or two. There has been a decent number more than “just a game or two” if my counting is correct.

It doesn’t appear Kevin Porter Jr. (abdomen) will be back on the court anytime soon. He’s without a timeline, so managers will need to adjust.

Jakob Poeltl (lower back strain) saw a specialist on Thursday. Yeah, that can’t be good.

We could receive an update on Max Strus (left foot surgery), but he’s very much out of sight, out of mind for fantasy managers.

We should get word on how Dejounte Murray (right Achilles rupture) is progressing, but I personally wouldn’t rush to stash him.

Cam Johnson (right knee hyperextension injury management) is nearing his re-evaluation timeline, but the last update was on December 25th (when we got news he would be evaluated in 4-6 weeks). Without any true recent update, I doubt we hear any positive news on Johnson this week.

We got official news that Steven Adams suffered a Grade 3 left ankle sprain. That should keep him out for a few months. Perhaps Clint Capela gets some more run, but he’s a low-level streaming option.

Schedule Breakdown

Weekly Info

Games played:

ONE team with FIVE games: CHI
20 teams with FOUR games: LAL, MIA, BOS, PHI, POR, WAS, HOU, BKN, SAC, NYK, CHA, ORL, MEM, CLE, PHO, DET, MIN, UTA, DEN, ATL
NINE teams with THREE games: IND, LAC, TOR, MIL, OKC, GSW, NOR, SAS, DAL

Back-to-Backs (B2Bs) This Week:

THREE teams with TWO B2Bs: CHI, MIA, MEM
17 teams with ONE B2B: PHI, POR, WAS, HOU, BKN, SAC, NYK, CHA, PHO, DET, MIN, UTA, DEN, ATL, NOR, SAS, DAL
10 teams WITHOUT a B2B: LAL, BOS, ORL, CLE, IND, LAC, TOR, MIL, OKC, GSW

Start/Sit Decisions for Weekly Lineup Leagues:

If you play in a league with Daily Lineup Changes, this does not apply to you, so you can move along to the next section.

Luckily, there aren’t any teams with only two games in the week. So all your start-sit decisions should be relatively straightforward right?

Besides the deliberation between Player X with four games and Player Y with three games, the only other team that could throw a wrench into your choices is the Bulls with their five-game slate. Players like Jalen Smith and Kevin Huerter could come into play. I would probably take a chance on either of them over a marginal player with a three-game week just due to the additional chances of popping off.

Among the three-game teams, are there players who could actually have a two-game week because they are at risk of back-to-back rest?

Three-game teams with a B2B: Pelicans, Spurs, Mavs

No major players on these teams should be in line to miss any B2Bs, so no need to adjust further.

Daily Info

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Mark C

After years of playing redraft fantasy basketball leagues with my friends, I branched out to dynasty leagues. As my hunger for competitive leagues grew, I found myself having lengthy conversations in various forums and developing my own thoughts on rookies and veteran players alike. Among the dynasty community, I found a gap in understanding on-court play and valuing transactions properly and thought to myself “I have a lot to say that could help dynasty managers!” I eventually came onto Sports Ethos as the Dynasty Lead, producing Dynasty Fantasy Basketball content such as rankings, rookie profiles, and other sorts of articles to enable managers to make informed decisions on their own squads. I pride myself in marrying on-court NBA and fantasy basketball analysis, giving readers and listeners of my content a holistic knowledge base of not only dynasty basketball projects but also the NBA itself.

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