Last Updated on February 20, 2026 4:08 pm by Mike Passador | Published: February 20, 2026

Welcome back from the All-Star break everyone. There hasn’t been a ton of change in the landscape since we last met here, but Thursday’s slate of games had a few things that should impact your decisions going forward. Whether or not they were one-game blips remains to be seen but fantasy GMs may want to fade all of the Wizards and Kings if Thursday’s action is any indication of what’s to come. Making those decisions now should help you plan for the future, as appealing schedules are anything but when you don’t know if anyone will play enough to matter.

The head-to-head playoffs are literally right around the corner in many leagues so let’s set the table for Week 19.

Injury Updates

With only one game between editions of The Week Ahead, there really isn’t a lot to update you on. That said, we did get a few big injury updates before teams got back to action that are worth touching on.

Steph Curry will be evaluated in 10 days as he continues to battle right patellofemoral pain syndrome. That’s an evaluation date, and given the nature of the injury you would expect that he’ll miss more time beyond that even if his recovery is perfect from here on out. It means Pat Spencer and Brandin Podziemski are still in play in 12-team formats, and it also delays the learning curve of Curry playing with Kristaps Porzingis. There will be bumps in the road and those are likely to occur in the fantasy playoffs.

The Thunder said that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain) will be evaluated in a week, while Jalen Williams (right hamstring) will be evaluated in two. That leaves SGA a true toss-up for the start of most head-to-head playoffs if managers have been able to survive his absence in the first place. As for Williams, it looks like he’s going to go the whole regular season without getting up to full speed. There’s no real 12-team wrinkles here; Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain will all see more time. There’s some streamers in there but the most interesting development might be more playmaking for Isaiah Hartenstein.

Ja Morant (right elbow) will be out another two weeks at least and we’d be surprised if there was more than a cameo appearance going forward. It just gives us more time to sort out things between Scotty Pippen Jr., Cam Spencer and Javon Small behind Ty Jerome.

Franz Wagner (left ankle) will be evaluated in three weeks, which means he’s not seeing the court again until late March at the earliest. At least we know what to expect from Orlando while he’s out.

The Kings went with a big news dump before resuming play on Thursday as Domantas Sabonis (left meniscus) and Zach LaVine (right finger) underwent season-ending surgeries. Dylan Cardwell then suffered a left ankle sprain at practice that will knock him out for at least a month, and that could potentially end his season. That helps a little bit — and Keegan Murray is back, which is cool in general — but there’s still no predictability to this rotation. Beyond Murray, Maxime Raynaud is the only guy you can safely pencil in for 30 minutes a night and that’s only because Drew Eubanks is the other center on the roster. Everyone else is a toss-up, though we’re intrigued by Nique Clifford and Devin Carter.

Schedule Breakdown

Weekly Info

Games played:

Four-game teams: Pelicans, Rockets, Bucks, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Kings, Grizzlies, Celtics, Cavaliers, Nets, Lakers, Pistons, Thunder, Spurs

Three-game teams: Hawks, Warriors, Hornets, Bulls, Jazz, Wizards, Timberwolves, Raptors, Pacers, Knicks, 76ers, Heat, Magic, Nuggets

Two-game teams: Clippers, Suns

Back-to-Backs (B2Bs) This Week:

14 teams with 1 back-to-back: Pelicans, Rockets, Bucks, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Kings, Celtics, Cavaliers, Nets, Lakers, Thunder, Spurs, Warriors, Raptors

16 teams without a back-to-back: Grizzlies, Pistons, Hawks, Hornets, Bulls, Jazz, Wizards, Timberwolves, Pacers, Knicks, 76ers, Heat, Magic, Nuggets, Clippers, Suns

Start/Sit Decisions for Weekly Lineup Leagues:

If you play in a league with Daily Lineup Changes, this does not apply to you, so you can move along to the next section.

You’re probably going to want to avoid your Clippers and Suns besides Kawhi Leonard, John Collins, Devin Booker and Collin Gillespie. It’s going to be somewhat easy to abandon any Wizards and Pacers as well, and despite four-game weeks the Kings, Grizzlies and Nets don’t have a lot of players you can trust. Who in that group can you count on to play big minutes in all four games — Maxime Raynaud? Players like Michael Porter Jr. and Ty Jerome are probably your next-best bets.

Daily Info

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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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