Last Updated on March 2, 2026 2:20 am by Keston Paul | Published: March 2, 2026

Playoffs or no playoffs, let’s get ready to rumble.

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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.

Nique Clifford (17%)

Clifford accounted for 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one triple, one steal and one block in 42 minutes during a blowout loss on Sunday. The Kings are invested in his development and while the scoring efficiency may vary wildly, he has 16 steals in his past five games, two total blocks, usually grabs above-average rebounds and can get you a respectable number of assists. He is must-roster.

Dejounte Murray (39%)

Yes, I am willing to eat my words since I didn’t think he was worth stashing.

Murray only played 22 minutes, but was neat for 17 points (6-of-10 FG, 4-of-4 fT), five boards, five dimes, a steal and a triple. He looks good and should provide assists, steals, good rebounds for a guard and likely inconsistent scoring. That was always his stat profile and scoring stuff just elevates him higher. Now, you likely need to be able to stash him into IL+ (or the ESPN IR) for rest days, but other than that, I think he will be productive enough on a per-game level.

Neemias Queta (38%)

Hey, I blurbed this guy.

Neemias Queta dropped a career-high 27 points (10-of-14 FG, 7-of-10 FT) in Sunday’s 114-98 win over the Sixers, adding 17 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks in 27 minutes.

Queta did just only play 15 minutes in the last game while Nikola Vucevic popped off, but this may be a situation where whoever is having the better game or the archetype more needed for the matchup (rim-runner and defender vs. the skilled offensive guy) will get prioritized. Despite variability being expected, the balance of the ups and downs look like they will even out to 12-team value, so Queta remains must-roster.

I want to drop in the stats too. So Vucevic and Queta have played in nine since February 6, when Vuc made his Celtics debut.
Queta averages: 10.0 points (.691 FG%, .800 FT%), 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.2 blocks in 22.3 MPG (top-90 9-cat value per game)
Vucevic averages: 12.0 points (.477 FG%, .800 FT%) 1.3 triples, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.8 blocks in 23.9 MPG (top-105 per game for 9-cat)

Expect some really bad games and some really good games from both. Don’t overreact to the highs or the lows and you should know if Queta fits your roster since his stat profile is very specific, if he was dropped and is available.

There may be a couple of performances that you are wondering about.

Not Pickups?

Firstly, the Cavs and Hawks only have two games this week so their guys are iffy based on the schedule.

I spoke about Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Taylor Hendricks here.

I spoke about Walter Clayton Jr. here. 

I have some doubts about the consistency of rotations for Clayton and potential “returns” or “contract issues” messing up Prosper. Hendricks also just hasn’t proven he can be consistent.

Games

Rockets – Wizards @ 7:00 ET
Celtics – Bucks @ 7:30 ET
Nuggets – Jazz @ 9:00 ET
Clippers – Warriors @ 10:00 ET

Teams on Second Night of a Back-to-Back

Note: Teams on the second night of a back-to-back must submit their injury report by the release of the 4:15 pm ET Official NBA Injury Report. 

Nuggets, Clippers, Bucks, Celtics

Nuggets: Spencer Jones was out on Sunday, while Cam Johnson exited with right ankle soreness and said that he indicated that he doesn’t think he will play on Monday.

Clippers: Kris Dunn and John Collins exited Sunday’s game late with issues. Sometimes those things lead nowhere, but sometimes they do. Darius Garland has already been cleared in advance of Monday’s game.

Bucks: Thanasis Antetokounmpo was out on Sunday, but obviously, we would be more interested in a Giannis appearance if that is in the works anytime soon.

Celtics: Baylor Scheierman played through a questionable tag for a finger fracture on Sunday, so he may or may not be given a day off for healing. The “Jayson Tatum watch” continues but it seems like a return might come in mid-March at the earliest now, if he does return.

Teams on First Night of a Back-to-Back

Wizards

Kyshawn George, Tristan Vukcevic and Anthony Gill are questionable for Monday’s game. I think George, Vukcevic and Tre Johnson may only play one leg of the back-to-back since the Wizards have said they’re “managining their minutes due to recent injuries” more or less.

Top Stories to Watch

Sources: All-Star guard Darius Garland (toe) — who hasn’t played since Jan. 14 — plans to make his season-debut for the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday when they play the Golden State Warriors. pic.twitter.com/m9T8HXmK77

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 1, 2026

The Garland Impact: Garland should most likely be returning on a restriction, but he should push one of Kris Dunn or Derrick Jones to the bench (there is a less likely reality where it’s John Collins benched), while Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders should also have less to do off the bench. I mostly want to see what it does to Bennedict Mathurin, but the Clippers should presumably still value Mathurin in a sixth-man role so maybe there isn’t much change there.

Stephen Curry out at least 10 more days. This is on our blurb feed, but in case you missed it.

Steph Curry will be re-evaluated again in 10 days, per source. Making progress on that “unpredictable” right knee issue, as Curry called it, but that’ll rule him out of at least the next five Warriors games. He’s missed the last 10 games.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 2, 2026

Blurb from our feed: We got this exact same update on February 19. Curry’s absence will now extend into mid-March and he is apparently making progress but the knee is considered “unpredictable,” which isn’t a description we like. Gui Santos, Brandin Podziemski and De’Anthony Melton are must-roster, while Moses Moody deserves strong 12-team consideration. Pat Spencer and Gary Payton II have been useful for deep leagues as well and Spencer flashed some 12-team upside before petering out a bit.

Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon trending positively

Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson, both out with hamstring injuries, are progressing and will be reexamined this upcoming week.

League sources told @ClutchPoints that both are ramping up their activities and the Nuggets are hopeful that they will be available in 7-10 days.

— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) March 2, 2026

Blurb from our feed: This seems to line up with head coach David Adelman’s comments last week and a report that Gordon was doing everything except contact in practice. Expect Gordon to return on a restriction and be carefully managed due to his frequent muscle injuries. Watson was “balling out” prior to his absence, but it is unclear if he has the path to a big enough role to replicate that with possible restrictions alongside a healthier Nuggets squad. If your fantasy playoffs have started, these two are not must-grabs, but if it hasn’t a flier wouldn’t hurt if you can afford it.

Celtics and Jayson Tatum
If your playoffs are starting, holding Tatum in a “dead” IR/IL spot may not be the best idea, especially if that means your IR/IL is full. If it isn’t full, do whatever you want. I’ve maintained since the end of the All-Star break that Tatum was an easier stash for teams projected to have a bye, since they would have a “free” extra week to have him on their roster and of course, I believe having Yahoo’s IL+ or the ESPN IR where you can stash away players sitting a back-to-back is also helpful toward being able to “manage” Tatum if he returns.

Rockets Reminder: Head coach Ime Udoka said that Jabari Smith Jr. is expected to return on Thursday vs. the Warriors. There isn’t much more to add here, but I am mentioning it in case you missed that report on Saturday. Also, obviously, sometimes players don’t get back by their target date, so there is always a chance that Smith takes a little longer to return and the Thursday is the first leg of a back-to-back, so they could give him the extra day off if needed.

Rotations: Wizards and Jazz
So, the Grizzlies also tend to play almost everyone around 20-to-25 minutes, but they aren’t playing on Monday, so they aren’t relevant to the slate-specific discussion. For the Wizards and Jazz, we can look at their most recent game to check out the minutes share.

Wizards’ minutes in order on Saturday:
Will Riley 35 minutes
Anthony Gill 28 minutes
Bilal Coulibaly 23 minutes
Justin Champagnie 22 minutes
Jamir Watkins 21 minutes
Bub Carrington 21 mnutes
Jaden Hardy 19 minutes
Tre Johnson 19 minutes
Tristan Vukcevic 19 minutes
Sharife Cooper 18 minutes
Kyshawn George 15 minutes

We have also been told that Johnson, George and Vukcevic have minutes limits due to recent injuries, but we also know that George and Vukcevic are players whose minutes get pulled in close matchups regardless; Champagnie’s as well. This was a game vs. the Raptors, a good team, and the Wizards have a Rockets-Magic Monday-Tuesday back-to-back. So, we can’t predict the rotations here. Also we know guys like Vukcevic and Champagnie are good per-minute producers even if they are limited, so when they are available, they are just worth a look regardless. If Riley gets hot, as he has gotten hot and won them games they were trying to lose before, his minutes could get pulled as well.

Jazz’s minutes in order on Saturday:
Isaiah Collier 33 minutes
Ace Bailey 30 minutes
Kyle Filipowski 29 minutes
EJ (Elijah) Harkless 28 minutes
Brice Sensabaugh 26 minutes
Keyonte George 23 minutes
Cody Williams 21 minutes
Blake Hinson 16 minutes
John Konchar 15 minutes
Kevin Love nine minutes
Oscar Tshiebwe nine minutes

I won’t get into starting lineups and the fact that different players started in the second half as that might be completely different on Monday. I will also note, Konchar played 26, 24, 31 and 25 minutes in the prior four games. Do not expect this rotation to just be the same on Monday. The Jazz’s last two games were vs. the Pelicans, who aren’t tanking, but they are bad. A game against the Nuggets on Monday, an actual good team, should offer a different dynamic and perhaps give us less “nonsense” unless head coach Will Hardy does some magic like he usually can do to make it close, forcing the rotations to get weird again.

Final thoughts for the Wizards and Jazz: Aside from the truly high-upside assets, maybe you shouldn’t hold most of the guys from these teams in the long term. However, I think you can stream whoever is available on Monday, especially since it is such a small slate to begin the week. I would hold Collier, Filipowski and Bailey for sure. Sensabaugh is fine if you just need points and threes, while Vukcevic’s per-minute upside is so immense, I would likely hold him as well. Champagnie’s minutes variations are a bit too frustrating for my liking, so I view him as more of a high-end streamer. (Kyshawn) George is not a hold in my opinion, but he can be streamed when active. On that note, yes, I would be holding (Keyonte) George as I think the ankle issues are legit, since he did literally injure them (left ankle first, and then recently the right ankle) in games. I still think they would want to get him (Keyonte) the 16 more games he needs to be eligible for the Most Improved Player award, if they can, but maybe the injuries are going to cost him if they don’t think pushing him for that award is worth risking their draft position — which is mostly just down to keeping their top-8 protected pick.

Pending Injury News for Monday
I usually make some notes for myself so I can keep track of things easier when blurbing, but that’s also usually more short-hand. I wrote out the full names and designations for you guys.

Kyshawn George – questionable
Anthony Gill – questionable
Tristan Vukcevic – questionable
Celtics B2B (Out or Injured on Sunday: — ) Always on Jayson Tatum watch
Bucks B2B  (Out or Injured on Sunday: Thanasis Antetokounmpo)
Nuggets B2B  (Out or Injured on Sunday: Spencer Jones, Cam Johnson)
Clippers B2B (Out or Injured on Sunday: — ) -> Darius Garland already cleared for Monday
Gary Payton II – questionable

Look out for the back-to-back updates. If you see a listing for guys from those teams anywhere, that is a projection. We got early news for Garland on social media and Cam Johnson also said he is “not optimistic” about playing on Monday, but the official Monday reports for the teams on back-to-backs from Sunday have not been submitted at the time of writing.

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Stay up to date on news for this slate with our NBA Blurb Feed! 

Check out our Live Injury Report to see who is probable, questionable, doubtful or sidelined for this slate!

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Streamers

Standard Formats

I am being a bit more thorough here because it is the fantasy playoffs, but some of these guys may be must-roster or they are likely already rostered. With four games on, we also usually have to “reach deeper” for potential value.

Reed Sheppard – points, 3s, steals, assists & sometimes blocks

Tari Eason – steals, blocks, rebounds & occasional scoring upside

Kyshawn George (questionable, wait for update) – across-the-board stats

Tre Johnson – points, 3s, possible steals

Justin Champagnie – rebounds, steals, blocks, points, possible 3s

Bilal Coulibaly – steals, blocks, rebounds, assists & bad percentages

Bub Carrington – points, assists, 3s, out-of-position rebounds & occasional chance of a steal

Tristan Vukcevic (questionable, wait for update) – points, rebounds, 3s, blocks & some steals

Will Riley – hit-or-miss points & 3s, rebounds, assists, steals

Kyle Filipowski – points, rebounds, assists with upside for 3s

Ace Bailey – points, 3s, rebounds & potential for steals (bad percentages)

Isaiah Collier – assists, upside for points

Brice Sensabaugh – points, 3s & FT% if he can get to the line

John Konchar – rebounds, steals, upside for 3s & sometimes assists, blocks

Brandin Podziemski – points, 3s, rebounds, assists, steals

Moses Moody – 3s, steals, upside for points, rebounds, blocks

De’Anthony Melton – steals specialist with upside for 3s & assists

Gui Santos – points, 3s, steals, blocks with a little rebounds & assists

Al Horford – low-end across-the-board upside

Pat Spencer – points, rebounds, assists, steals

B2B Stream Watch for Standard Formats

The Nuggets, Clippers, Bucks and Celtics will submit an injury report by 4:15 pm ET on Sunday at the latest, so look out for that before you stream any of their players. 

Tim Hardaway Jr. – hit-or-miss points & 3s

Bruce Brown – mainly points & rebounds but across-the-board upside

Julian Strawther – boom-or-bust 3s, points

Brook Lopez – 3s, blocks

Kris Dunn (exited Sunday’s game with an injury, wait for update) – steals specialist with upside for assists & 3s

Derrick Jones Jr. – 3-and-D stats plus rebounds

Bobby Portis – points, rebounds, possible 3s

Kyle Kuzma – points, rebounds & occasional upside in other areas

AJ Green – 3s, 3s & 3s with occasional outbursts of rebounds or assists

Neemias Queta – blocks, rebounds, FG%

Sam Hauser – 3s, 3s & also 3s

Baylor Scheierman – 3s & rebounds with a chance for points, assists

Deep Leagues

Jamir Watkins – steals, blocks, upside for rebounds & occasional 3s

Anthony Gill (questionable, wait for update) – rebounds, low-end points, 3s

Jaden Hardy – boom-or-bust points & 3s with occasional assists upside

Sharife Cooper – assists, points, possible 3s & steals

Cody Williams – decent points, 3s, steals but across-the-board upside

Blake Hinson – 3s
(a bit of a “will he be called up from the G League vs. a good team risk” here)

Oscar Tshiebwe – rebounds
(risky, not guaranteed to be called up from the G League, but Kevin Love is out)

EJ (Elijah) Harkless – steals, possible rebounds, blocks, assists
(a bit of a “will he be called up from the G League vs. a good team risk” here)

Gary Payton II (questionable, wait for update) – steals, rebounds, occasional points upside

Quinten Post – 3s, rebounds, occasional upside for points, steals or blocks

B2B Stream Watch for Deep Leagues

The Nuggets, Clippers, Bucks and Celtics will submit an injury report by 4:15 pm ET on Sunday at the latest, so look out for that before you stream any of their players. 

Spencer Jones (out on Sunday with an injury, wait for injury update for Monday) – steals specialist with boom-or-bust upside for 3s, rebounds

Kobe Sanders – points with upside for 3s and general stats

Jordan Miller – mainly points, 3s, but occasional upside in other areas

Yanic Konan Niederhauser – typical big-man stats

Ousmane Dieng – a bit of everything

Jericho Sims – hope for big-man stats