Fantasy Basketball News, Stats and Analysis (2024)

Bulls' Zach LaVine: Healthy after surgery

14h ago

Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said Wednesday that LaVine (foot) has been "fully cleared" after undergoing surgery in February, Will Gottlieb of AllCHGO.com reports.

LaVine had surgery on his right foot in early February with a recovery timetable of 4-to-6 months. A little over four months removed from the procedure, LaVine has been fully cleared and should be a full-go for training camp. The 28-year-old appeared in just 25 games during 2023-24 due to a few injuries, including the right foot issue that lingered throughout the campaign before February's shut down. He averaged fewer than 20 points and four assists per for the first time since 2017 last year.

Raptors' Ja'Kobe Walter: Headed to Toronto with No. 19 pick

15h ago

Walter was selected by the Raptors with the No. 19 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Walter was last season's Big 12 Freshman of the Year and earned Third-Team All-Big 12 honors. First and foremost, Walter is a three-point shooter. Of his 10.9 shot attempts per game, 6.3 of them came from distance. He drained 2.1 threes per game at 34.1 percent. While that's not an elite number, he took plenty of difficult movement triples. He's capable of pump faking and driving off his three-point threat, but he's not a top-shelf athlete and needs to work on his finishing around the basket. He'll often pump fake to push in and shoot a mid-ranger. Taking a step forward as a ballhandler and passer would do wonders for his potential. Defensively, Walter struggles from a lack of footspeed and may be better off guarding bigger players given his 6-foot-10 wingspan on a 6-foot-4 frame. Walter's gravity as a three-point shooter, especially one who can move off-ball, should be valuable to Toronto. If Toronto moves on from Gary Trent and/or Bruce Brown, Walter could compete for a starting spot with Gradey Dick.

76ers' Jared McCain: Goes No. 16 to Philly

15h ago

McCain was selected by the 76ers with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

McCain is coming off of a strong freshman season at Duke, where he posted 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 31.6 minutes per game. The 20-year-old is a bit undersized, but he attacks the rim with confidence and was one of the better outside shooters in college basketball last season, knocking down 41.4 percent of his attempts. Defensively, McCain does not possess great length (6-3 wingspan), but he's a high-effort player who maintains position and fights through screens. McCain will likely come off the bench for the Sixers as a rookie, providing a shooting punch to the second unit.

Kings' Devin Carter: Picked 13th by Kings

16h ago

Carter was selected with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by Sacramento.

Carter is a high-energy, high-motor guard who's an excellent defender but is a bit of a 'tweener due to his offensive game. He's capable of creating his own shot and hit on 37.7 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc, but it's unclear if his decision making will be good enough for him to play point guard. While he's only 6-foot-2, the reigning Big East Player of the Year has a massive wingspan and logged 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. However, he'll have to navigate through plenty of traffic in a busy Kings backcourt that features De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter and Keon Ellis.

Spurs' Stephon Castle: Goes No. 4 overall to Spurs

17h ago

Castle was selected by the Spurs with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

A key piece in UConn's run to the National Championship last season, Castle will now team up with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. At 6-6 with a 6-9 wingspan, Castle has excellent size and is capable of playing both guard spots, as well as defending on the wing. Defense was his calling card at UConn, but the belief is that he'll be able to show off an expanded offensive package at the NBA level. Shooting is a major question mark for Castle, as he knocked down just 26.7 percent of his three-point attempts (2.2 3PA/G) for the Huskies as a freshman. Castle figures to compete for a starting spot from Day 1 with San Antonio.

Raptors' Scottie Barnes: Set to ink five-year extension

3d ago

Barnes (hand) agreed Monday with the Raptors on a five-year maximum extension worth up to $270 million, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.

Keeping Barnes in the fold long term is a no-brainer for the Raptors, as the 22-year-old forward took a big leap forward during his third NBA season in 2023-24. Over his 60 appearances this past season, Barnes posted averages of 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.7 three-pointers, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks in 34.9 minutes per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 78.1 percent from the free-throw line and 34.1 percent from three-point range. Each of those averages represented career highs, and the free-throw and three-point percentages were also personal bests for Barnes. Expect Barnes and the Raptors to finalize the extension at some point in the coming days. Barnes missed the final 22 games of the 2023-24 season after undergoing surgery on his left hand, but he's set for a healthy offseason and shouldn't have any restrictions by the time training camp gets underway in the fall.