Last Updated on February 7, 2026 1:41 pm by Keston Paul | Published: February 7, 2026

The All-Star break is an interesting time for fantasy basketball, A matchup spanning 14 days requires meticulous planning (unless your team is just stacked and you don’t need to make moves). That could range from saving adds for players potentially returning from injury or just trying to maintain flexibility so your roster isn’t “stuck” with a full week or multiple days left in a matchup.

The Week Ahead always aims to provide you with the best path forward for an upcoming matchup and that is no different here.

As a bonus, with fantasy trade deadlines coming up, I also included playoff scheduling notes at the end. That includes the best and worst schedules in each week as well as the number of games each team has in any given week from March 2 through to the end of the season on April 12. This should be a thorough, everything-you-need-to-know article to help you move forward.

Injuries to Watch

This is for February 9 to February 22.

Impending Evaluations

Before All-Star Break:

Nothing significant here. It makes a lot more sense for teams to give a player the extra six days to recover, even if the player is very close to a return.

After All-Star Break:

Zach Collins (right first toe sprain) will be re-evaluated sometime during the break. There has already been chatter about the rest of his season being in jeopardy (from head coach Billy Donovan) if Collins continues to recover slowly.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain) will get an update after the break.

Keegan Murray (left ankle sprain) will be evaluated at the end of the All-Star break and I think we could see him back within the week after the break. Stash him if he was dropped, if you can afford to.

Trae Young (right MCL sprain & right quad contusion) is set to be evaluated after the break, but I do not think we should be expecting anything positive.

Timelines Getting Close

Before All-Star Break:

We got a recent update that Jakob Poeltl (lower back strain) could be back before the All-Star break and he is apparently questionable to play on Sunday at the time of writing.

While we don’t have a timeline for Ajay Mitchell (abdominal strain), I think we see him right after the break at worst and possibly before the break as well. He has been sidelined since January 21 without a timeline.

On the same note, Jalen Williams (right hamstring strain) has been out since January 17 and was supposed to be evaluated in a “couple weeks” after that. There is a small chance that he reappears before the break, but it usually makes more sense to give the players the extra six days if the team can afford to do it. The Thunder are missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain), but they are obviously still ahead of the pack.

Evan Mobley (left calf strain) has a timeline that means he could be back at any time now, but as always, there is a chance that he is held out through the break.

After All-Star Break:

Coby White‘s physical revealed a left calf injury and he is expected to be out through the All-Star break. The Hornets ended up sending two seconds instead of three after the traded was amended. Considering the Bulls were playing White through that injury, I have to assume that it isn’t serious enough to sideline him for too long and we see him soon after the break.

Franz Wagner (high left ankle sprain injury management) pretty much said that he returned from his injury too early. I think we see him immediately after the break at worst, if not before.

There was also chatter about Darius Garland (right great toe sprain)  is “being evaluated and it is unclear if he will play before the break,” per Clippers beat reporter Tomer Azarly. I say, given his season-long issues, the Clippers will try to get him right to play right after the break.

Other Injury Notes

General:

Jayson Tatum (right Achilles repair) should likely have an update on whether he is returning this season or not after the break. The trade for Nikola Vucevic would make a lot of sense if Tatum is set to play, future-related cheaper re-signing of Vuc aside.

Max Strus (left foot surgery) was supposed to be evaluated before the end of January and we are waiting on something new.

I do not think Kyrie Irving (left ACL tear/left knee surgery) will be seen this season.

On January 5, we got this update: Dejounte Murray (right Achilles rupture) is making progress and the team “will have more clarity” on his situation in the next month, per Pelicans interim head James Borrego. It seemed like it was not decided if Murray would return this season or not, but we should get an update on that soon. I do not think he is worth stashing, for what it’s worth.

Matisse Thybulle (left thumb surgery) has an unknown timeline and I think he could get waived to open a roster spot so the Blazers can give Sidy Cissoko (or Caleb Love) a full-time standard deal.

Kris Murray (lower back lumbar strain) also has an unknown timeline.

It sounds like the Pacers could hold out Ivica Zubac due to the previous ankle injury he had to “get him right.” To be fair, he did return from a left ankle sprain very early for the Clippers and there is no incentive to play through stuff in Indiana.

Before All-Star Break:

Words

After All-Star Break:

Jonathan Kuminga (left knee bone bruise) does not have a precise timeline, but I would guess we see him soon after the break, if not immediately after.

Tre Jones (left hamstring strain) and Josh Giddey (left hamstring tightness/injury management) do not have precise timelines. We could see them before the break, but I think it makes more sense for the Bulls to hold them out through the break and they’ll likely return immediately after it.

Schedule Breakdown

Weekly Info

Games played:

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

Back-to-Backs (B2Bs) This Week:

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

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.

If your weekly lineup league spans both halves of the All-Star Break (Feb. 9 to Feb. 22):

The Celtics and Raptors only have three games, while 28 teams have four games or five games. In a standard-sized weekly league, if your depth is adequate, you can likely only consider starting the high-end guys from those teams like Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Scottie Barnes. Payton Pritchard, Nikola Vucevic, Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett can likely get the job done as well, but past that, you will likely get more from a “slightly worse” player with better volume when we start getting to guys like Neemias Queta, Collin Murray-Boyles, Sandro Mamukelashvili.

Among the five-game and four-game teams, are there players who could actually have a three-game week (or worse) because of B2B injury management?

Four-game teams with one B2B: UTA, MEM, MIN, NOR, SAS, WAS, HOU
Four-game teams with two B2Bs: MIA
Five-game teams with two B2Bs: IND, PHO, NYK, LAC

Of the four-game teams with one back-to-back, “red flags” are Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic of the Jazz. The Jazz play the Heat, the Kings and Blazers on a back-to-back and then the Grizzlies after the All-Star break. Markkanen will not play in that Kings game but I think you have to start him and hope he plays all the other three games.
Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr., Tari Eason and the Wizards’ regulars (especially Alex Sarr) could lose a game. Those guys are likely startable, depending on who the four-game alternative is.

On the Heat, Norman Powell does not sit every back-to-back but he sometimes gets one off. I think you can likely still start him since there is the All-Star break between each set of back-to-backs. That isn’t a crowded schedule!

Of the five-game teams with two back-to-back sets, Mitchell Robinson would likely only play three games. The same goes for Jalen Green and the Pacers’ core guys (Siakam, Nesmith, Nembhard, McConnell). Ivica Zubac may not play many or any of those games either. I do wonder: would Brook Lopez become a back-to-back rest risk with additional minutes? We don’t know yet. If Darius Garland is available, I would also guess he doesn’t play in upcoming back-to-backs.

If your weekly lineups only span Feb. 9 to Feb. 15:

The Celtics, Raptors and Wizards only have one game in the four days prior to the All-Star break. You know the drill by now. The high-end guys might work, but the fringe guys likely don’t make sense compared to two-game teams and a couple of three-game teams.

Two-game teams with a B2B are: Rockets, Clippers, Pacers, Knicks, Suns, Spurs. Players like Tari Eason, Mitchell Robinson, Pascal Siaka, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, TJ McConnell, Mitchell Robinson, Jalen Green and maybe Devin Booker could only have a one-game week spanning Feb. 9 to Feb. 15. I would also advise being careful with the Heat’s (W16) Sun-Mon (W17) back-to-back as anyone sitting on Monday would only have a one-game week across Feb. 9 to Feb. 15 as a result. Same with the Wolves, but they don’t usually have back-to-back resters.

Daily Info

Want full access to notes for the Fantasy Basketball Week Ahead? You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required  

  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 All-Star Week Ahead: Sleeper Adds & Week 17 Schedule
• Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Best Week 16 Pickups & Trade Deadline Review
• Fantasy Basketball Daily Cheat Sheet: Monday, February 2nd Streamers & Adds