Last Updated on January 10, 2026 11:51 am by Mike Passador | Published: January 10, 2026

Friday’s slate was very busy but the biggest news of the day came well before any games began. Anthony Davis suffered ligament damage to his left hand in the late stages of Thursday’s loss and is currently seeking second opinions on the injury. If doctors deem that surgery is the best path forward, Davis will be out for “a number of months,” according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Based on that report, it feels like a very safe bet that Davis will be sidelined past the February 5 trade deadline. That takes the best openly available player off the board and might set the Mavs’ new plans back significantly. AD’s injury risk and contract were already limiting the amount of teams interested in his services; now, even those who were willing to roll the dice are slashing their offers with Davis uncertain to be of help this year.

With Davis out long term and the Mavs probably unable to trade him for a meaningful package, it feels like the tank is about to be fired up. That means that Kyrie Irving, already not expected to return before the All-Star break, is equally unlikely to play much, if at all down the stretch. That’s going to give a lot of oxygen to whichever guards and forwards Dallas does hold onto or acquire. For now, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington and Naji Marshall all look like strong pickups in all formats — Washington and Gafford in particular should be viewed as must-adds. The backcourt ramifications are still cloudy since we’re basically projecting a non-return thanks to a hypothetical non-move, but fantasy GMs have already seen that the current group is a bit too messy for 12-team formats.

As for everyone else? Davis being taken off the market will force teams to get more creative in search of a superstar talent. You have to imagine the price just went up on pretty much everyone — no matter what the Pelicans are saying — and it means we might see some more desperation out there among buyers. The trade deadline is always unpredictable, and removing the one elite talent that was expected to move should only ratchet up the craziness.

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.

Reed Sheppard (41%)

Sheppard is already gone in most competitive leagues, but the fact that he’s still available in over half of Yahoo leagues means we are going to shout him out yet again. It’s actually a good time to look as his scoring game has dried up of late, so managers might have cut him loose not realizing what Sheppard has been able to provide even without a ton of points. Tari Eason left Friday’s game with an ankle sprain after 16 minutes and Sheppard was the guy who got the biggest bump; he finished with 34 minutes, 20 points (8-of-21 FG), three rebounds, four assists, a steal and four 3-pointers. Add him.

Egor Demin (18%)

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