Last Updated on March 1, 2026 12:26 am by Keston Paul | Published: March 1, 2026

Let’s jump right into this 11-gamer on Sunday.

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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.

Moussa Diabate (29%)

I had the pleasure of blurbing him on Saturday.

Moussa Diabate translated 33 minutes in Saturday’s victory over the Blazers into 13 points (5-of-7 FG, 3-of-4 FT), 11 rebounds and five assists.

After his four-game suspension, Diabate has played 31, 30 and now 33 minutes in the three games since his return. There is simply no doubt that he is the preferred center for the Hornets and that he should be rostered across all standard formats. Ryan Kalkbrenner was barely able to make a note in 15 minutes with two points from 1-of-4 FG and seven rebounds. Kalkbrenner might become a shaky hold in deep leagues given the type of production he is flashing right now, unless you just need a low-end specialist.

Gui Santos (27%)

Santos just received a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option for 2028-29. That seems like a strong vote of confidence and in the past month of action prior to Saturday (10 games), Santos is a top-35, yes, top-35 9-cat performer per game with averages of 15.3 points (.596 FG%, .696 FT% on 2.3 attempts per game), 1.9 triples, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.8 blocks and 2.0 turnovers in 29.8 MPG.

Santos is very must-roster until proven otherwise.

Reed Sheppard (40%) & Tari Eason (42%)

Jabari Smith Jr. is missing Monday’s game and might return next Thursday, but even with that in mind, the Rockets have shortened their rotation at times recently. Sheppard had been shooting poorly but is looking better lately. Eason is playing back-to-backs and big minutes with rebounds, steals, potential for blocks and extra upside if he hits his shots.

Sheppard’s line on Saturday: 14 points, four triples, four rebounds, five assists and a steal in a 36-minute spot start. His .357 FG% wasn’t pretty, but he can be better.

Eason’s line on Saturday: 10 points, two triples, 10 rebounds, five assists, one steal, 36 minutes. Eason also only shot 33.3 percent from the field, but he can be better than that.

Games

Spurs – Knicks @ 1:00 ET
Cavaliers – Nets @ 3:30 ET
Bucks – Bulls @ 3:30 ET
Timberwolves – Nuggets @ 3:30 ET
Grizzlies – Pacers @ 5:00 ET
Trail Blazers – Hawks @ 6:00 ET
Pistons – Magic @ 6:00 ET
76ers – Celtics @ 8:00 ET
Thunder – Mavericks @ 8:00 ET
Pelicans – Clippers @ 9:00 ET
Kings – 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. 

Blazers, Lakers, Pelicans

Blazers: Deni Avdija has missed the past three games and has dealt with a lingering low back issue. His status is uncertain at best. Robert Williams III should sit out on Sunday after playing on Saturday. I also think Matisse Thybulle will sit.

Lakers: Rui Hachimura has missed two games with an illness and should also be “uncertain” at best for Sunday. We know that Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and especially LeBron James may sit some back-to-backs but not all, so that will be  “wait and see” situation.

Pelicans: Dejounte Murray sat out the front leg of the back-to-back so he should be back in the mix on Sunday. Trey Murphy III has missed five games with a right shoulder contusion so I would also label him as “uncertain at best” for Sunday. Yves Missi returned from a 17-day layoff for a calf strain that cost him five games, so he may be at risk of a night off as well.

“Zion Williamson has not missed a game since mid-December, so you can expect him to suit up unless I end up jinxing him.” I wrote that early during the night on Saturday and then Williamson exited Saturday’s game with a right ankle injury… so, I jinxed him. We can likely expect him to sit out on Sunday. Jeremiah Fears started the second half on Saturday.

Teams on First Night of a Back-to-Back

Celtics, Bucks, Clippers, Nuggets

Baylor Scheierman is questionable to suit up on Sunday with a finger fracture, so maybe he gets a night off for extra healing.

John Collins are questionable to play on Sunday, so they might also be given a night off since they’ve been a bit banged up. Kawhi Leonard is available on Sunday but has been dealing with left ankle soreness and missed Saturday’s practice with an illness, so I would not say he is guaranteed to play on Monday. Also, Darius Garland apparently intends to return on Monday.

Spencer Jones is questionable for Sunday, but hasn’t been a significant fantasy asset lately. Since Cam Johnson is probable, he should play.

Top Stories to Watch

Joel Embiid is out for the next three games (Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday) with a right oblique strain, so Andre Drummond and Adem Bona have some time in the sun until a potential Embiid return next Saturday. Knowing how Embiid’s body works, that could feasibly extend past the initial three games as well. If that does happen, the Sixers have five games in the March 9 to March 15 week.

Dejounte Murray might be a 12-team option as he has immediately come back playing 25-plus MPG. I still wouldn’t count on efficient scoring, but the possibility of assists, steals and decent guard rebounding should be enough. Murray’s managers would need to be able to “cover” his obvious rest days for back-to-backs though.

The Cavs are still hurt as Donovan Mitchell will remain sidelined with a groin strain and Dean Wade will remain out with an ankle sprain. James Harden and Keon Ellis are also both questionable to play with finger fractures. While this opens up value on Sunday if you have streaming spots, the Cavs only have two games next week, made worse by the fact that those games are far apart on Tuesday and Sunday, while also being the highest-volume game days of the week.

I will also note, that while Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are questionable, you should be aware that the Hawks have a two-game week (Wednesday and Saturday) coming up if you intend to stream anyone from their roster. So, don’t go buying the Jonathan Kuminga hype willy-nilly as he has also benefited from the Johnson injury and a bad opponent (the Wizards twice) so far alongside the bad upcoming schedule.

The Nets may not be “prolifically tanking” as they are not sitting Michael Porter Jr. often. That is good for us, but I do think by mid-to-late March, we will probably see more stuff popping up as even the “ethical tankers” tend to lean into things heavily during the final weeks. Maybe MPJ survives for us who have earlier fantasy playoffs, but at the same time, the offense might just be less functional as they lean into younger players as well.

Monitor Collin Sexton and Tre Jones as Anfernee Simons is out indefinitely with a wrist fracture that is being called a pain issue since he has played through it since training camp in Boston but a wrist sprain aggravated it. Sexton started the previous game, but was fairly disappointing and saw limited minutes, while Jones was more interesting.

Cedric Coward and Santi Aldama being doubtful is good because we had not gotten any word on those two lately, but Ty Jerome being doubtful is bad as it means the Grizzlies might manage him closely and perhaps sneakily hold him out of lottery matchups. The issue is that Coward and Aldama may be restricted if they return in the upcoming week, but Aldama’s upside with no true bigs around is high (Taj Gibson is out while conditioning and likely just there for locker room support) — that is, if Aldama isn’t just severely limited as I said before.

Sunday is the last game for Isaiah Stewart’s suspension, meaning he will return on Tuesday. So, add him if he was dropped in 14-team leagues and deeper and Paul Reed can also likely be dropped after Sunday’s game or ahead of it if you’ve got a secure win in hand and want to plan for next week.

Khris Middleton was supposedly weighing up a buyout to join a playoff team or the potential of staying with the Mavs, but a new report from Marc Stein suggested that Middleton intends to stay in Dallas. This is better for his fantasy value and he might be a player with 12-team intrigue. I can’t label him as must-roster yet because we have seen Middleton’s struggles in recent seasons, but he did play both legs of a back-to-back for the Mavs this week, which seemed like a strong indicator of him staying put as well.

Russell Westbrook is back on Sunday, so I want to closely observe Devin Carter’s role as before the big-minute outing with Westbrook out on Thursday, he was a “DNP-CD” in his return on Wednesday, he missed one game with back soreness and before than, he was limited to six minutes in the game prior. He does have fantasy upside, but we do need to apply context and try to collect more data here. I think Nique Clifford is probably must-roster after Keegan Murray’s injury despite some efficiency issues, since Clifford can produce across the board.

Darius Garland apparently plans to make his Clippers debut on Monday and I expect him to be on some level of restriction, but it will be worth monitoring the team’s rotations for that matchup and beyond, including the impact on Bennedict Mathurin.

Quenton Jackson has been converted from a two-way to a standard contract for the Pacers, while Ryan Nembhard has also been converted from a two-way to a standard contract for the Mavs. Jackson likely has some interesting upside to monitor and would be the player I am monitoring more closely.

Since I did blurb the R. Nembhard news, I will take an excerpt from the blurb on him: The 5-foot-11 rookie point guard — who turns 23 on March 10 — had an interesting stretch earlier in the season, averaging 9.9 points (.490 FG%, .750 FT%), 1.4 triples (.444 3PT%), 2.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.0 blocks across 25.1 MPG in 17 starts, per StatMuse. Keep an eye on his role moving forward.

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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

Julian Champagnie – 3s, rebounds, steals, scoring upside (& occasional blocks)

Keldon Johnson – points, rebounds, FG% & upside for 3s or a steal

Dylan Harper – points, assists & upside for a steal, some rebounds

Harrison Barnes – points & 3s with upside for rebounds, a steal or FT% if he gets to the line

Jose Alvarado – 3s, assists, steals & occasional upside for rebounds

Mitchell Robinson – FG%, rebounds, blocks, possible steals

Jaylon Tyson – across-the-board stats

Sam Merrill – 3s, 3s & also 3s with occasional low-end assists upside

Dennis Schröder – points & assists with upside for steals, 3s, FT% & low-end out-of-position rebounds
(especially if Harden, questionable, ends up being out)

Nolan Traore – points, assists, possibly bad percentages

Day’Ron Sharpe – rebounds, FG% and sometimes adds steals or blocks

Danny Wolf – points & rebounds with potential 3s and assists

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

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

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

Tre Jones – assists, steals, FT%, points

Nick Richards – rebounds, low-end points, FG%, potential for blocks

Guerschon Yabusele – across-the-board stats but boom-or-bust

GG Jackson II (must-roster) – decent points, 3s, rebounds, blocks

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

Scotty Pippen Jr. – across-the-board stats

Walter Clayton Jr. – points, 3s, rebounds, assists, steals, FT% if he gets to the line

Javon Small – assists, steals, points, 3s, possible rebounds

Jay Huff – blocks specialist, upside for 3s & occasional potential for rebounds

Jarace Walker – general stats with potential for bad percentages

Quenton Jackson – points, 3s & some potential for assists

Micah Potter – 3s, rebounds

Kam Jones – assists

Jonathan Kuminga – points, rebounds, very low-end upside for assists

Duncan Robinson – 3s with occasional upside in other areas

Tobias Harris – points, 3s, rebounds, FT%, occasional steals

Paul Reed – steals, blocks, rebounds, occasional scoring upside

Wendell Carter Jr. – solid across-the-board value but mainly points & rebounds

Quentin Grimes – points, 3s, upside for steals, assists & more

Adem Bona – blocks with upside for rebounds or steals

Andre Drummond – rebounds, low-end blocks & upside for a triple or steal

Neemias Queta – blocks, rebounds, FG%

Sam Hauser – 3s, 3s & also 3s

Cason Wallace – steals specialist with upside for 3s, assists, low-end rebounds

Daniel Gafford – blocks specialist with FG% and potential for rebounds

Max Christie – hit-or-miss points & 3s with very occasional upside for steals or FT% if he gets to the line

Brandon Williams – points, assists, steals & some potential for 3s or FT%

Khris Middleton – points, rebounds, assists, & upside for 3s & steals

Brook Lopez – 3s, blocks

Kris Dunn – steals specialist with upside for assists & 3s

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

Maxime Raynaud (must-roster) – points & rebounds with upside to produce in all areas

Nique Clifford (likely must-roster) – hypothetical general stats with possibility of bad efficiency

Malik Monk – boom-or-bust points, 3s, FT% & upside for assists & maybe a steal

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

B2B Stream Watch for Standard Formats

The Blazers, Lakers and Pelicans 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. 

Toumani Camara – some points, 3s, rebounds, steals and may get two or three assists

Jerami Grant – points, 3s, possible rebounds, steals

Scoot Henderson – points, assists, FT%, possible 3s, steals

Dejounte Murray – points, assists, steals, 3s
(you can hold him)

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

Herb Jones – steals, upside for 3s, rebounds & occasional low-end assists

Derik Queen – across-the-board upside

Deep Leagues

Luke Kornet – rebounds, blocks, FG%

Landry Shamet – boom-or-bust points & 3s

Ziaire Williams – boom-or-bust points & 3s with potential steals & rebounds

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

Ousmane Dieng – a bit of everything

Jericho Sims – hope for big-man stats

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

Rob Dillingham – points, assists, 3s, likely bad FG%

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

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

Olivier-Maxence Prosper (has 12-team upside) – mainly points & rebounds, upside for defensive stats, hit-or-miss 3s

Taylor Hendricks – 3s, steals, blocks & upside for rebounds

Ben Sheppard – very boom-or-bust points & 3s with occasional upside for rebounds

Kobe Brown – steals, blocks, possible rebounds, occasional 3s

Zaccharie Risacher – 3s & steals with upside for rebounds

Corey Kispert – 3s

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

Ron Holland II – steals, out-of-position rebounds, occasional scoring outbursts

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

Jevon Carter – 3s, steals

Dominick Barlow – rebounds, blocks, upside for steals, solid FG%

Aaron Wiggins – points & 3s with upside for rebounds, occasional steals & blocks

Alex Caruso – steals specialist with upside for 3s, assists, rebounds, occasional blocks

Lu Dort – extremely boom-or-bust 3s, upside for steals, occasional rebounds

Isaiah Joe – 3s

Klay Thompson – 3s specialist with points if he gets hot

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

Daeqwon Plowden – 3s, points

B2B Stream Watch for Deep Leagues

The Blazers, Lakers and Pelicans 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. 

Kris Murray – steals, rebounds, boom-or-bust 3s

Vít Krejčí – very hit-or-miss 3s & points with occasional steals upside

Jake LaRavia – general stats but mainly steals

Marcus Smart – steals, assists, rebounds & upside for 3s

Luke Kennard – points, 3s, occasional upside for assists

Jaxson Hayes – low-end big-man stats

Bryce McGowens – points with upside for 3s

If DeAndre Jordan plays the back-to-back and starts, give him a go for big-man stats.