Last Updated on February 13, 2026 1:24 pm by Mike Passador | Published: February 13, 2026

Week 18 is Week 18 in name only, as most fantasy leagues are going to have a 14-day matchup that bookends the All-Star break. That means one matchup “week” spans from February 9 to February 22. That is not the case for every single league, however, so we’re going to show up (No Days Off over here) with a quick-hitter on Week 18 — or Week 17.5 to most of you.

Injuries to Watch

The All-Star break is a showcase of the league’s best talent — it’s supposed to be anyway — but for everyone else it’s a chance to rest and recharge. While the players who hit the break healthy may come back in top shape, the time off is a fantastic window for the league’s injured players to get back on the floor. Let’s take a quick spin around the league to see who is on the mend.

Impending Evaluations

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain) is said to be due for an evaluation After the All-Star break, which hopefully means he gets a once-over from the medical staff before the Thunder reconvene for next week’s games. Jalen Williams, meanwhile, appeared to suffer a right hamstring injury on Wednesday after missing time for a previous hamstring strain. The Thunder haven’t said when he’ll be evaluated just yet but we would expect a batch update on these two. Ideally they’re back soon but the Thunder are going to prioritize their postseason health even if it means dropping in the standings, which was an unthinkable thought a month ago.

The Warriors held out some hope that Steph Curry (right patellofemoral pain syndrome) would be able to play this past week but ultimately they chose to hold him out, and will also prevent him from playing in the All-Star game. It does feel like the extra week could have him back soon but the Warriors should issue an update early next week.

The Hornets have yet to see Coby White in uniform because of a left calf strain and there’s potential for him to be back after a couple weeks on the shelf. Charlotte has never been very transparent when it comes to injury timelines but we are optimistic about White returning somewhat quickly.

Cooper Flagg (left midfoot sprain) was ruled out of the Rising Stars Challenge but the general vibe is that he won’t miss much, if any, time on the other side of the break. The Mavs are building the whole operation on his shoulders so we would expect to hear something concrete one way or another before their next game.

Shaedon Sharpe missed the last four games before the break with a left calf strain and we’re going to proceed with the hope that no news is good news here. The Blazers have had their share of guard injuries this season and have been fairly diligent about discussing reevaluation timelines. That Sharpe hasn’t gotten such an update means that we may not be looking at a lengthy absence.

Grayson Allen (right knee sprain) has missed the last three games and the Suns have already said he’ll be evaluated after the All-Star break.

Keegan Murray (left ankle sprain) was cleared to begin on-court activities back on February 3, and on that day the Kings also said he’d be evaluated in two weeks. That means we should know something more on the 17th.

On Thursday it was reported that Alex Sarr (right hamstring strain) would miss approximately two weeks. One of those is a week off for everyone, and hopefully there are no setbacks thereafter. You will still need to worry about how much the Wizards actually play Sarr even after he’s cleared, but that’s a problem for another day.

Timelines Getting Close

Collin Murray-Boyles (left thumb) keeps getting hit on the hand but it doesn’t sound like the Raptors are worried. He’s still slated to play in the Rising Stars event as part of All-Star weekend and if he can suit up for that, we’d expect him to play when the games count again. It has been said that his injury just need some time to heal and a week off sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

Norman Powell (back) will be participating in his first All-Star game this weekend despite missing Miami’s two games this week. Clearly the Heat aren’t too worried.

Joel Embiid (injury management) has actually been pretty good about avoiding random nights off this year, but the Sixers decided to sit him for the final two games before the break. If you told fantasy GMs before the season that Embiid would only miss two games in non-B2Bs for injury management prior to the All-Star break, they would’ve been doing backflips. Expect the big man ready to go.

Evan Mobley (left calf strain) is expected to return right after the All-Star break. That’s straight from Kenny Atkinson, so get ready to rumble.

Kristaps Porzingis (left Achilles) is also loosely expected to play in the first game out of the break. At this point we’re at “believe it when we see it” territory and Porzingis’ next stint on the injured list is never far away, but it does look like the next week off will get him ready for his Warriors debut.

Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain) is expected to return for LA’s next game — he’s another player who will be at All-Star weekend — and Deandre Ayton (right knee soreness) is day-to-day, so the Lakers should be at full health when the season resumes.

Ryan Rollins (right plantar fasciitis) missed Milwaukee’s final two games before the break. There haven’t been any updates yet but the Bucks are still fake-competing, which means that we expect Rollins to be back soon unless we hear otherwise.

Keyonte George (right ankle sprain) enters the All-Star break on a three-game absence. You can’t move around the Jazz with any sort of confidence but it doesn’t feel like this becomes a long-term problem.

Domantas Sabonis (back), Zach LaVine (finger), Russell Westbrook (left ankle) and Malik Monk (illness) all missed the final game before the break; Sabonis, LaVine and Monk had missed time before that as well. It would be tough for the Kings to keep everyone listed as out without a further update given how the league is performatively cracking down on tanking, so we would expect all of these guys healthy next week but to move on and off the injured list for the rest of the season.

Other Injury Notes

Wizards GM Will Dawkins said that he expects Anthony Davis (left hand, groin) to play again at some point this season after it had been reported that he was going to shut it down to get ready for next season. If that’s true — and there are reasons to believe it is, as well as reasons to believe it isn’t — then Trae Young (right knee, right quad) should also be expected to suit up.

Jaren Jackson Jr. underwent surgery for a cancerous growth in his left knee and the procedure is supposed to sideline him for the rest of the season, though the Jazz haven’t said as much. Jackson was on a 25-minute restriction through his first three games with the team and wanted to suit up once in front of the home crowd before going under the knife. It would’ve been nice to know that beforehand, but whatever.

Jayson Tatum (right Achilles) is putting together a fairly murky injury history with this one. First it was reported that he was considering sitting out the entire season, only for it to come out that he had been cleared for 5-on-5 practice against coaching staff. Then Tatum got sent down for a partial practice in the G League, only to get recalled and say that none of this means he’s playing this year. He’s good enough that you have to consider stashing him, but heavy skepticism is warranted.

Ivica Zubac (left ankle) will be out for “a while,” according to Rick Carlisle, but Pacers management believes that both Zubac and Obi Toppin (right foot) will play this season. The Pacers just caught a fine for blatant tanking so they’re in the crosshairs a bit, but with both of these injuries looking more legitimate than some of the other stuff we’re seeing we would imagine that the team takes its sweet time. The Pacers do want Zubac to get some reps in with the other core guys, which is a point in his favor at least.

Darius Garland was dealing with a right toe sprain but the Clippers flipped his listing back to left toe injury management, which is much more concerning given that he had left foot surgery over the summer after playing through toe problems down the stretch last season. The Clippers are already locked into at least a Play-In spot so there’s really no urgency here. Garland said in his intro presser that he’s ready to play again but clearly that was not the case.

Schedule Breakdown

The number of games played will dictate weekly lineups, but if you have fringe 12-team players from a team with one or two games in daily lineup formats, you may want to consider dropping them and streaming their spot instead.

Weekly Info

Daily Info

Thursday: 10 games
Friday: 9 games
Saturday: 6 games
Sunday: 11 games

Looking for more help with your lineup and streaming decisions? Check out our Fantasy Basketball Tools! 

Tanking

The league has clearly taken note of the obvious tanking going on these days, handing down $500,000 in fines to the Jazz and $100,000 to the Pacers. That’s a drop in the bucket for ownership groups, who would likely eat ten times the fine in exchange for a top lottery pick. It’s not a real solution to the problem, and nor is the punishment all that fair — the Sixers built an entire brand on tanking; the Spurs have done it; Dallas, Brooklyn, Washington and Toronto have done it in recent seasons; Sacramento and Memphis are doing it right now. Who are they to say which players Will Hardy can and can’t play from the active roster? There’s no mechanism for the league to punish teams fairly now that the cat is out of the bag and been allowed to roam around for a few years. Until they figure out a fix, fantasy GMs will have to put up with the unpredictable nature of squads looking to lose.

(Your author’s proposed fix? Something similar to the Gold Draft idea simmering among hockey fans and in use in the PWHL, where draft order is determined by wins gained after a team has been eliminated from the playoffs. Hockey’s points system makes things a bit different, but in the NBA you could credit wins gained when a team is more than five games behind the final playoff spot, for example. The worst teams would have a longer runway to pick up wins and no incentive to lose. Just a thought.)

How should you handle tanking teams in fantasy? There’s no easy answer. In broad strokes, you want to sort out which players are likely to see consistent playing time no matter what. That generally means younger players, but not quite anyone who could torpedo the future by suffering a long-term injury in a meaningless game. Bilal Coulibaly was that type of guy in recent seasons but even he is seeing mid-20s minutes lately. Eventually some teams will be without so many players that you can just turn to anyone on the active roster. It is going to be imperative that you pay attention to the box scores here and keep track of the changes with each lineup permutation (or keep reading here, since we’ll do that for you).

Kyle Filipowski is a must-roster player. Justin Champagnie and Tristan Vukcevic aren’t far behind. The Grizzlies PG group is a mess but (beyond Ty Jerome, who obviously needs to be rostered) Scotty Pippen Jr. and Walter Clayton Jr. figure to have some legs too. Taylor Hendricks offers real intrigue given his previous production in silly season opportunities. Nolan Traore is cementing his place in the starting five for Brooklyn. Jay Huff remains a must-roster and Jarace Walker is climbing the ranks. Nique Clifford is rolling and the Kings are finally dialing minutes back for their veterans. Brandon Williams and Max Christie are looking good in Dallas. The Bulls are right on the line of a tank opportunity as well.

And that’s just the guys who might offer sustainable long-term value; Brice Sensabaugh, Marvin Bagley, Danny Wolf, Nick Richards, Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Wells, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rob Dillingham, Kyle Anderson, Drake Powell, Quenton Jackson, Jamir Watkins, Will Riley and Caleb Martin are among the other names who could hit the scene.

It’s not going to be easy to predict as we have already seen Memphis bench Hendricks in a double-double effort, and he just got there. The fantasy players who are the most committed and active will be rewarded at this point in the season and figuring out which options you can count on slightly more than the rest will be a swing factor in plenty of fantasy championships. Focus on youth, follow the minutes and pay attention to what one variable does to another. Good luck out there.

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Mike Passador

Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.

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