Fantasy Basketball News

Team USA G Zach LaVine has entered health and safety protocols and will not travel to Tokyo. (Source: Shams Charania on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: USA Basketball hopes that LaVine can rejoin Team USA later this week. Bradley Beal and Kevin Love have already been replaced by Keldon Johnson and Javale McGee so Team USA is running low on replacements this close to the Olympics. We'll see if Team USA calls up another member of the Select Team to replace him.

According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, F/C Kevin Love is withdrawing from Team USA and will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics. (Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: News of Love's absence leaves another vacancy for Team USA. Love only appeared in 25 games for the Cavs this season as he battled a lingering calf injury throughout the year. Love has two years left on a hefty 4-yr/$120M contract, so getting back to full strength ahead of next season is a priority for the 13-year pro.

Team USA forward Jerami Grant entered health and safety protocols at Team USA's camp in Las Vegas. (Source: Shams Charania on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: News just broke that Bradley Beal will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics after entering health and safety protocols. Jerami Grant did not test positive for coronavirus, but it's not a good sign with the Olympics a week away. His status for the Olympics remains up in the air, and Team USA could be in the hunt for another forward before leaving for Tokyo.

According to USA Basketball, Bradley Beal will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics for Team USA. (Source: Shams Charania on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Beal entered the health and safety protocols on Wednesday, and he is officially out from participating in the Tokyo Olympics. Beal delivered 17 points in Tuesday's win over Argentina and his absence leaves a noticeable vacancy in the backcourt for Team USA. USA Basketball has yet who will be replacing Beal on the active roster.

Los Angeles Clippers SF Kawhi Leonard (knee) underwent surgery to repair a partially torn ACL in his right knee, per Shams Charania. (Source: Shams Charania on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Leonard missed all of the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Suns with a partially torn ACL in his right knee, which he finally addressed via surgery on Tuesday. The perennial All-Star averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game for the Clippers across 52 games during the 2020-21 regular season.

Australian C Aron Baynes (knee) banged into Bradley Beal during a USA vs. Australia friendly on Monday night and had to exit the game early. (Source: Brian Windhorst on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Baynes, who most recently played for the Raptors this season, appeared to be in a good deal of pain just 4 minutes into the game when he collided with Beal. After a short stint in the locker room, Baynes returned back to the bench, although it remains to be seen how severe the injury is.

Despite leaving Game 2 early with a knee injury, Suns F Torrey Craig intends to play in Game 3 after the MRI came back clean. (Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Craig played just seven minutes in Game 2 after playing 16 minutes off the bench in Game 1. He'll give it a go tonight despite the injury that forced him to leave Thursday night's game early. Craig has been a defensive menace off the bench for the Suns of late, and his presence will be felt in trying to defend the Bucks' big three in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton in Game 3.

Milwaukee Bucks PF Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) will play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday after suffering a hyperextended left knee during the Eastern Conference Finals, per Shams Charania. (Source: Shams Charania on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Giannis will play in Game 1 on Tuesday after progressing from doubtful to questionable earlier in the day. Milwaukee will need his size and aggressiveness in the paint to counter Phoenix Suns C De'Andre Ayton and PF Jae Crowder. Antetokounmpo has not played since a Game 4 loss against the Atlanta Hawks, where he yielded 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists across 24 minutes.

Atlanta Hawks G Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee) will be available to play against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday. (Source: Atlanta Hawks on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Bogdanovic already was a featured offensive weapon before Trae Young's foot injury, so he will likely see increased usage in shot volume on Thursday, including assists and rebounds. The 28-year old Serbian guard is coming off of an impressive 20-point outing where he converted six triples in a pivotal Game 4 win over the Bucks. Bogdanovic should continue playing at a high level without Young during Game 5 on Thursday night.

Atlanta Hawks C Clint Capela (eye) will play in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, per Chris Haynes. (Source: Chris Haynes on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Capela caught an elbow to the face causing him to exit Game 4 a bit early due to inflammation in his right eye. Capela produced quality minutes during the win over Milwaukee on Tuesday, scoring 15 points and securing seven rebounds across 28 minutes. He will continue to be a key piece of the Hawks offense with Trae Young (foot) ruled out again on Thursday due to a bone bruise in his right foot.

Trae Young has been ruled out for game five of the Eastern Conference finals between Atlanta and Milwaukee on Thursday. (Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter )

Fantasy Impact: It will be a battle between the Hawks and Bucks without both Young and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Young will continue to rehab with hopes of playing in the Eastern Conference Finals game six on Saturday in Atlanta.

Cameron Johnson has been ruled out ahead of game six of the Western Conference finals series between the Suns and Clippers on Wednesday. (Source: Chris Haynes on Twitter )

Fantasy Impact: This is reportedly a non-COVID-19 illness. It is a pretty big loss for the Suns as Johnson has been an extremely efficient scorer all series. We could see more playing time given to Mikal Bridges, Torrey Craig and Abdel Nader as a result.

Ivica Zubac has been ruled out ahead of game six of the Western Conference finals series between the Clippers and Suns on Wednesday. (Source: Chris Haynes on Twitter )

Fantasy Impact: This will be the second straight game Zubac has missed. The Clippers will continue to run out a lot of small ball, while DeMarcus Cousins should once again see more playing time as well.

Marcus Morris Sr. "feels good" and will play on Saturday against the Suns. (Source: Kellan Olson on Twitter )

Fantasy Impact: Morris was initially listed as a game-time decision, but he will once again be able to play in game four. His playing time has been somewhat limited in the 20-25 minute range in the first few games of this series against Phoenix.

Phoenix Suns PG Cam Payne (left ankle) will not return for the second half in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. (Source: Phoenix Suns on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Payne suffered the left ankle injury during the closing minutes of the first half during Game 3 on Thursday. Chris Paul should play the majority of minutes in the second half at the point guard position, with Jevon Carter likely to get a bump in minutes to spell Paul.

After some practice on Thursday, the Suns have said Chris Paul will officially be making his return on Thursday and will also be in the starting lineup. (Source: Brett Siegel on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Paul's return is a huge boost for the entire Phoenix offense, although G Cameron Payne did a fine job in Paul's absence. Paul should be seen as a top tier DFS play while Payne should fall back into more of a value play with limited upside.

Cam Reddish was initially listed as questionable for Game 1 against Milwaukee, but has been listed as available by Atlanta's interim head coach Nate McMillan. (Source: Maria Martin on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Reddish last played in on February 21 and his since been recovering from an injury to his achilles. He averaged 11.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists prior to getting hurt and could be a valuable DFS play if gets enough minutes in this series.

Mike Conley is available to play Friday in game six of the Western Conference semifinals against the Clippers. (Source: Utah Jazz on Twitter )

Fantasy Impact: Conley returns to the court as Utah trails 3-2 in the series against the Clippers. It has not yet been announced whether or not he will be limited in any fashion.

Kyrie Irving was ruled out ahead ahead of the Nets game Saturday against Milwaukee. (Source: Kristian Winfield on Twitter )

Fantasy Impact: Brooklyn will be without Irving in a win-or-go-home game against the Bucks. They'll be relying heavily on Kevin Durant and James Harden.

James Harden was set to test out his hamstring prior to Game 5 and since no setbacks were suffered, is now set to rejoin the team in the lineup on Tuesday. (Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: This is a huge boost to Brooklyn's team, although it should be of note that we saw a similar situation with Lakers F Anthony Davis, and he only played five minutes before exiting the game. Harden should be viewed as a risky DFS play with an ultra high ceiling.