Last Updated on January 18, 2026 1:54 am by Keston Paul | Published: January 18, 2026

Be aware of the midday ET start time on Sunday.

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.

No roster percentages today because your boy is exhausted, but I’m not pulling any punches with the analysis.

De’Anthony Melton

Melton had 24 points, three triples, six rebounds, three assists and a steal in 21 minutes.

I like Melton and I do actually think he is likely just the best guard of the Warriors’ group. However, he pretty much never plays above 25 minutes and I think that might be because of his recent injury history. If the team is intentionally capping him at 25 MPG because of that, I don’t know if actual rest-of-season 12-team value is possible. He is producing very well in his minutes right now though and it deserves a flier given his fantasy-friendly stat profile for 3-and-D stats plus the potential for a few assists.

Kyle FIlipowski

Filipowski looked better with 13 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, one triple, one steal and one block in 29 minutes.

Jusuf Nurkic got three consecutive DNP-CDs vs. bad opposition. However, the upcoming week features the Spurs, Wolves, Spurs again and the Heat. Filipowski is still in 12-team flier territory for me and is not must-roster, but by the time March rolls around the opportunities may be more frequent. He was 2-of-3 on 12-team-worthy lines across this recent three-game run.

Brice Sensabaugh

Sensabaugh had 26 points in 30 minutes on Saturday.

Sensabaugh embodies the microwave scorer type nicely, and well, he has been on a heater over the past three games. Concerns? Well, a usage-needy stat profile could be tricky if Lauri Markkanen (illness) returns for games vs. tough teams next week. Sensabaugh was doing some solid work before that though and maybe he is at least a 12-team streamer with some “stash with benefits” upside for silly season.

Games

Magic – Grizzlies @ 12:00 ET
Nets – Bulls @ 7:00 ET
Pelicans – Rockets @ 7:00 ET
Hornets – Nuggets @ 8:00 ET
Timberwolves – Spurs @ 8:00 ET
Trail Blazers – Kings @ 9:00 ET
Raptors – Lakers @ 9:30 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 4:00 pm ET Official NBA Injury Report. 

CHA, DEN, LAL, POR

Aaron Gordon played both legs of a back-to-back earlier this week, but there is still always the chance that he gets a night off amidst a 5-in-7 schedule (Sat-Sun, Tues, Thurs-Fri). The same goes for Jamal Murray.
Christian Braun has missed every game this week, so his availability will be unclear.

LaMelo Ball is playing both legs of back-to-backs, but came off the bench for 27 minutes in the second leg of a back-to-back on January 8. He came off the bench for 21 minutes on Saturday, so I expect him to start and see his usual workload on Sunday. Brandon Miller did sit a leg of the most recent back-to-back but played both legs of a set before as well. Miller will be an uncertainty.
Moussa Diabate was out on Saturday and is uncertain for Sunday.

Luka Doncic sat out on Saturday with groin soreness and I suspect he will be available on Sunday.
However, LeBron James might get a night off at the end of this 5-in-7 set for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is also likely to sit for injury management after his recent calf strain. Note, if James sits, he will not be eligible for awards like All-NBA as he will dip under the 65-game threshold.
Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes were out on Saturday. Both should be viewed as uncertain for Sunday but I think Ayton has a greater chance of playing.

As for the Blazers, Robert Williams III should be likely to sit after playing on Saturday. I also think Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant will sit.
Deni Avdija is dealing with a back strain so he is at best, uncertain to play, but I would guess that he misses out.

Of course, look out for the official injury reports on Sunday.

Teams on First Night of a Back-to-Back

BKN

Michael Porter Jr. and Drake Powell have been ruled out for Sunday’s game.

Cam Thomas and Egor Demin are available at the time of writing, but I would expect them to sit out on Monday.

Ziaire Williams (illness) is still out.

Top Stories to Watch

Major Injury Notes
(Follow our Blurb Feed and Live Injury Report for the day-to-day news)

Ja Morant (right calf contusion) is probable to return from a six-game absence, which should negatively impact Cam Spencer.

As I noted in my last two Week Ahead articles, Ty Jerome (high-grade calf strain) was a given a return-to-play timeline of 6-to-9 weeks back on November 22, 2025. January 17 is exactly eight weeks since that update, so stashing Jerome makes sense with a potential return within the next week if the Grizzlies’ timeline was on the nose.

Josh Giddey (left hamstring strain) has offically been listed as doubtful for Sunday. At the time of writing, he should not be expected to play but the status means he is close to a return.

Rotation Notes:

Moe Wagner logged 14 minutes off the bench to Goga Bitadze’s 12 minutes on Thursday. There was some overlapping for the bigs, but Bitadze might start being difficult to trust in general. I am still not fully trusting M. Wagner either.

Drake Powell seemingly got a spot start on January 12 with players sitting out, but then he stayed in the starting lineup over Terance Mann for the next two games. Powell was profiled as a 3-and-D player coming out of the draft with a very, very inconsistent 3-ball and not much juice off the dribble. Most of his allure was his defense with some pretty rough offense that needed work. He might only be relevant for ultra-deep leagues with 30 teams, or if we are lucky, maybe 20-teamers in time. At least, keep an eye on it if you play in deep leagues, but that will be more pertinent to Monday’s slate since Powell is out.

Jalen Smith started the second half over Tre Jones on Friday and led the Bulls in minutes. Smith did only play 17 minutes in the game before that, but started another game from opening tip when Coby White sat out a leg of a recent back-to-back. It is worth monitoring until Josh Giddey (hamstring) returns. Smith can be on the 12-team streaming radar at least and if he actually starts from opening tip, he becomes must-roster until Giddey’s return. Jones’ allotment of minutes was also still enough for 12-team value.

Kevin Huerter did weirdly only play 10 minutes, so he can be viewed as a risky option.

We should always be monitoring the minutes of Jordan Poole and Reed Sheppard. Poole only seems to get big minutes when he gets hot and that is not a viable outline for consistent 12-team value. Sheppard has been marginalized recently and is becoming a shaky hold, but he did have a good game in 19 minutes on Friday. Unfortunately, I think he needs closer to 25 or 26 MPG for secure 12-team production. Considering Sheppard’s minutes have still been bad without Tari Eason, it doesn’t seem to bode well for Sheppard’s longer-term value right now.

Domantas Sabonis logged 21 minutes off the bench on Friday in his return from a 27-game absence for a partial meniscus tear in his left knee. I do not expect much to change there in the short term, but he still put up a 12-team-worthy line in those minutes and can likely be a low-end 12-team option despite a restriction. Maxime Raynaud should likely just be viewed as a streamer and is not must-roster. Raynaud was already trending down pre-Sabonis return.

Hey, you! Do not trust the Kings’ utilization of Malik Monk!

As I said in last week’s Cheat Sheet for Monday, Jake LaRavia continues to start and JJ Redick said (last week) that Rui Hachimura was not guaranteed to reclaim a starting role when he was off his restrictions. LaRavia might have a real chance to start for the remaider of the season and I think he is worth a hold in 12-team formats.

Also, I said this pretty soon after Christian Braun was initially injured, but with Peyton Watson looking like an improved offensive player, I do not see why Watson should not start over Braun when the Nuggets are fully healthy. Hold Watson! Positions don’t matter if Watson is just a better floor-spacer and offensive player since he is also a very good defender. Also, Braun is only a “shooting guard” in name only. He is a forward who is not a reliable shooter who made his money with his cutting, hyper-efficient finishing and defense last season. Braun has lost that efficiency so far this season and looks more like the 2023-24 version of himself. I do not see any real reason for Braun to start over Watson given what Watson is showing. This was a speculative view at first, but I believe it more firmly now. Obviously, Watson will not have the same usage on a fully healthy Nuggets roster. Still, that should allow him to focus on being a defensive wrecking ball who provides steals, blocks, rebounds and some additives on the offensive end to round out a useful stat profile.

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

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Streamers

We are not including players who are either most likely on a roster or should be on a roster.

Standard Formats

Jock Landale – points, rebounds, FG% & occasional 3s

Danny Wolf – points & rebounds with potential 3s and assists
(usually starts when MPJ is out)

Day’Ron Sharpe – rebounds, FG% and sometimes adds steals or blocks
(generally on a 12-team-worthy run)

Egor Demin – 3s & assists with potential for out-of-position rebounds & occasional steals

Noah Clowney – points, 3s, blocks, potential steals & rebounds (potentially bad FG%)

Tre Jones – assists, steals, FT%, points

Ayo Dosunmu – general stats & good percentages

Kevin Huerter (very boom/bust) – points & 3s with occasional upside for assists, steals or rebounds
(Random 10-minute game last game for Huerter)

Jalen Smith – rebounds, 3s, some blocks & general upside

Jeremiah Fears – points with upside for assists, steals, 3s

Saddiq Bey – points, 3s, rebounds & occasional upside steals or assists

Steven Adams – rebounds specialist with occasional defensive stats

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

Dennis Schröder – points & assists with upside for steals, 3s, FT% & low-end out-of-position rebounds 

Maxime Raynaud – points & rebounds with upside to produce in all areas

Sandro Mamukelashvili – 3s & rebounds with upside for across-the-board production

Jamal Shead – assists & steals specialist

Collin Murray-Boyles – rebounds & steals with upside for across-the-board production

Second Leg of B2B Watch for Standard Formats

Wait for the official injury reports for these teams before picking up these players.

Marcus Smart – steals, assists, rebounds & upside for 3s
(did briefly leave & return to Saturday’s game with an injury, so definitely wait before an add)

Jake LaRavia – general stats

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

Caleb Love – points, 3s, low-end across-the-board upside, potentially bad efficiency

Ryan Kalkbrenner – blocks, FG%, possible rebounds & steals
(boosted if Diabate remains out)

Collin Sexton – points, assists, FT% & occasional upside for 3s or steals

Deep Leagues

Tristan da Silva – points & 3s with upside for rebounds & steals

Jaylen Wells – hit-or-miss points & 3s with upside for steals

Cam Spencer – points, 3s, assists & FT% if he gets to the line (potentially poor FG%) with 12-team upside

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – 3s, low-end steals, upside for assists

GG Jackson II (16-team league) – boom-or-bust points & 3s, upside for rebounds

John Konchar (20-team league) – rebounds, steals, upside for 3s & sometimes assists

Terance Mann – boom-or-bust points & 3s with potential for rebounds, assists, steals

Tyrese Martin – all-or-nothing desperation try for points & threes

Isaac Okoro – low-end boom-or-bust 3-and-D stats

Yves Missi – blocks, rebounds, FG%

Precious Achiuwa – low-end rebounds, points, steals, blocks

Gradey Dick – 3s, points

Ochai Agbaji (lottery ticket in deeper leagues) – minutes? Possible 3-and-D stats

Second Leg of B2B Watch for Deep Leagues

Wait for the official injury reports for these teams before picking up these players.

Gabe Vincent – boom-or-bust 3s & points

Jarred Vanderbilt – rebounds, steals, blocks in that order

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

Jalen Pickett – boom-or-bust upside for points, rebounds, assists, 3s
(12-team upside if Jamal Murray sits)

Spencer Jones – steals specialist with boom-or-bust upside for 3s, rebounds

Zeke Nnaji –  points, rebounds, blocks, maybe steals, maybe a three, maybe nothing at all