Last Updated on February 18, 2026 9:29 pm by Keston Paul | Published: February 18, 2026

We are back. All-Star Weekend happened, that’s about as much as I’ll say about it and now it’s time to attack the rest of the fantasy basketball season. This is where leagues are won. Let’s go get some championships.

Wednesday brought a wave of injury updates, and as always, that’s where the edge lives.

Grayson Allen is off the injury report. That means the Suns’ backcourt is essentially at full strength, or close to it. We’ll see if there are any soft minute limits lingering, but structurally this tightens things up. Fewer surprise usage spikes, fewer emergency streamers. Just a cleaner rotation.

Coby White is still out. And with Joel Embiid, the pre–All-Star absences are looking less like maintenance and more like a reason for concern. He’s already been ruled out for tomorrow with a shin issue that popped up while he was dealing with that sore right knee. The team says he’ll be re-evaluated ahead of the back-to-back this weekend. That’s not nothing.

Do we get some Bona action? Maybe in theory. In practice, Nick Nurse hasn’t shown a willingness to lean on him enough for that to be actionable in most formats. If Embiid misses extended time, they may be forced into it. But in the short term, Dominick Barlow looks like the clearer beneficiary.

In Sacramento, we already knew Zach LaVine was done for the season. Now Domantas Sabonis has undergone season-ending surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. That’s seismic.

Keegan Murray is ready to go. Dylan Cardwell, however, is dealing with a left ankle injury and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. That leaves Maxime Raynaud with a real runway here. For now, he should get as much as he can handle and that kind of uncontested frontcourt opportunity can translate into elite fantasy production.

Tyler Herro is returning to practice Thursday and is expected back shortly. That stabilizes Miami. Jonathan Kuminga will be re-evaluated in about a week, but realistically he’s not a must-add in standard formats right now.

Nicolas Claxton tweaked his ankle in practice, and the Nets are not exactly incentivized to rush anything. Expect caution. That opens the door for Danny Wolf, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Noah Clowney to see expanded roles and when minutes open up in Brooklyn, fantasy relevance tends to follow.

Franz Wagner will be re-evaluated in three weeks. Darius Garland is week-to-week and not expected back until March. Both are holds if you can afford it. But if you’re staring at a win-or-go-home fantasy playoff scenario, tough decisions may be unavoidable.

Stephen Curry was ruled out for Thursday night as he is still dealing with right patellofemoral pain. And we have official confirmation: Kyrie Irving will not play again this season.

So for this edition of the cheat sheet, we’re diving straight into the first slate out of the break, identifying the priority adds, the top streamers, and the storylines that could swing leagues over the next few weeks.

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.

Maxime Raynaud (23%)

We’ve already seen it earlier this season: Maxime Raynaud is productive when the minutes are there.

In the Kings’ last game, he logged 27:38 and finished with a modest 7/4/1, plus one steal and one block. The game before that? In 38:08, he exploded for 21/19/1 with a steal. That’s the swing case in action.

The truth is probably somewhere in-between. He’s not a 20-and-20 lock, and he’s not a low-usage afterthought either. With real runway, he should be a steady contributor in rebounds, provide legitimate block upside, chip in some scoring, and offer a positive impact on FG%.

With the opportunity in front of him, this is the kind of profile you don’t overthink. The minutes are too valuable to ignore.

Kyle Filipowski (28%)

Want full access to our Daily Fantasy Basketball Cheat Sheet with Pickups, Slate Notes & Streamers? 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 the SportsEthos team! Fill out an application by clicking here!