Last Updated on January 30, 2026 8:23 pm by Keston Paul | Published: January 30, 2026

The trade deadline is on February 5, which is the Thursday of Week 16. Fantasy managers need to be able to plan for schedule advantages while maintaining flexibility to react to the fallout of trades as well.

The Fantasy Basketball Week Ahead will put those plans on a platter for you.

Injuries to Watch

This is for January 31 to February 8.

Impending Evaluations

Kristaps Porzingis (Achilles): Early next week.

Tre Jones (hamstring): Late next week.

Seth Curry (sciatica) any day now, but that does not impact us.

Obi Toppin (right foot): Should get an update sometime next week.

Devin Booker (ankle): Expected to be evaluated on Sunday, but let us say early next week at the latest for an update.

Keegan Murray (left ankle sprain): Early next week

Timelines Getting Close

Ty Jerome (right calf strain) was doubtful for Friday’s game before being ruled out, so he could return for any game now (even Saturday). Stash him!

Zaccharie Risacher (knee) should be back any day now and is questionable for Saturday.

Evan Mobley (calf) if it is on the short end of his 1-3 week timeline.

Cam Johnson (knee) and Christian Braun (ankle) are expected to return before the All-Star break.

Jalen Williams (hamstring) could be close, but his timeline is imprecise. We were told a couple of weeks, which should be more short-to-medium term than long term.

Franz Wagner has been out with “injury management” for his high left ankle sprain and pretty much said that he only played in Berlin because of the circumstances (he is German), indicating that he “probably was not ready” to actually play. I do not expect him to be sidelined much longer though.

Blake Wesley (foot fracture) will be at the end of his timeline sometime next week. That might be pertinent for guys like Caleb Love and Sidy Cissoko, who could lose opportunities.

Other Injury Notes

Tyler Herro (ribs) has an unknown timeline but could appear for any game.

Kevin Porter (oblique) also has an unclear timeline. He could be close or he could be multiple weeks away.

Dejounte Murray (Achilles) is expected to get an update sometime next month, per our only real update on him a few weeks ago. The Pelicans had not determined if he would return this season, stating they will have to see how he responds to getting back on the floor in practice.

Jayson Tatum (Achilles) is weighing up whether or not he should sit out the season.

Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear) is participating in contact drills in practice now and is in the “final stages of his recovery.” I do not think he is worth stashing in standard leagues.

I do not think we are seeing Jakob Poeltl (back strain) anytime soon.

Georges Niang is yet to play this season with a stress reaction in his foot/toe. Don’t worry, Niang does not exist and he cannot hurt you. Speaking of that, I can also neither confirm nor deny the existence of Haywood Highsmiith.

The no-timeline-giving Wizards are just listing Marvin Bagley III (thoracic strain) and Tristan Vukcevic (hamstring strain) as “out” for every game with little word on a return.

Schedule Breakdown

Weekly Info

Games played:

NINE teams with FOUR games: IND, MIN, MEM, NYK, LAC, WAS, BOS, PHI, HOU
20 teams with THREE games: ATL, ORL, MIL, MIA, BKN, DET, SAC, POR, CHA, PHO, CHI, TOR, UTA, NOP, LAL, DEN, GSW, SAS, DAL, OKC
ONE team with TWO games: CLE

Back-to-Backs (B2Bs) This Week:

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

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.

Obviously, we have to address the Cavs having two games. In weekly lineup settings, Donovan Mitchell is still a start as you can easily get 60-plus points and other good stuff from him across two games. I do not think you can trust another player from the Cavs unless your weekly league is a very deep one and the three-game or four-game options are guys who get “minutes” but not necessarily “good stats.”

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:
MIL, DET, SAC, POR, TOR, DEN, SAS, OKC

Players who are back-to-back risks to be reduced to a two-game week:
Domantas Sabonis (left knee injury management is guaranteed)
Deni Avdija, due to his recent back issues
Robert Williams III doesn’t play back-to-backs
RJ Barrett (still on a minor restriction from recent injury)
Nikola Jokic (left knee bone bruise)
Isaiah Hartenstein (recent right soleus strain)

Of course, the Nuggets will sometimes sit Jamal Murray on a back-to-back but it isn’t something they do every time. The same goes for the Thunder regulars. Sometimes they sit, but they usually play. You have to start those players anyway, because a “maybe” isn’t enough to bench them.
Russell Westbrook is dealing with foot soreness right now, but he isn’t necessarily going to sit a back-to-back if healthy.

All of the players mentioned above could be at risk of playing just two games.
Avdija is a clear fantasy start in two games (plus, he might be healthy enough to play the B2B by next week) and Sabonis could be useful in two starts but that could be tricky with trade rumors to consider as well. I would not start Hartenstein in a shallow weekly lineup league.

Jokic is interesting, if he plays on Friday (questionable to return from a 16-game absence at the time of writing), Jokic can only miss one more game to be eligible for awards. Frankly, I don’t think he cares about winning another MVP and allowing Jokic to sit back-to-backs makes sense. Two games of Jokic is better than four of most players though, so you would start him as long as we see he is healthy this weekend.

The decisions on the others are variable based on your league size or roster depth, so you can make that call with the knowledge that those guys may only play two games.

Daily Info

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• About the Author
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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.

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