Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker is in the starting lineup for Saturday's meeting with the Charlotte Hornets. Alexander-Walker got the start for Anthony Edwards in Thursday's win over the Utah Jazz, finishing with 20 points, seven assists, and two blocks. As a result, he'll likely be a popular streaming option in all fantasy formats, including DFS contests. The Timberwolves next game isn't until Wednesday night versus the Spurs, so there's a chance Edwards could be back. However, Alexander-Walker should be claimed off waivers, especially if Edwards misses more time.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker will slide into the starting five for Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers. As expected, Alexander-Walker will move into the starting unit with Jaden McDaniels (ankle) sidelined. This is likely going to be the plan going forward until McDaniels is ready to return to the court. That being said, Alexander-Walker will see extended playing time and is looking like a decent streaming option. Kyle Anderson should also see more run, so he's worth a look as well.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard/forward Nickeil Alexander-Walker has agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the club, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Alexander-Walker's contract is reportedly worth $9 million across the two years. The 24-year-old played in 23 games for Minnesota last season after coming over from Utah. He averaged only 5.9 points in 15.5 minutes during the regular season for the team, but Alexander-Walker impressed in the first-round playoff series against Denver, and he now gets to continue his Timberwolves career despite the team initially not extending a qualifying offer to him.

The Russell Westbrook experiment in Los Angeles has been less than ideal over the past two years and has officially come to an end. With the West stocking up everywhere, the Lakers knew they had to make a splash in order to make a push to the playoffs.The Lakers executed a three-team trade with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves, involving a total of eight players and multiple draft picks Wednesday night. The Lakers sent Russell Westbrook, Juan Tuscano-Anderson, and Damian Jones to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt while also acquiring D'Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Jazz also sent Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Timberwolves while accumulating even more draft capital.So just what is the fantasy basketball fallout of this blockbuster trade? Let's examine how each of the teams and players in the deal may be affected going forward. 

Fantasy Basketball Fallout: Russell Westbrook

Westbrook is expected to be bought out from Utah and enter free agency. There are already rumors of teams interested in the veteran point guard, including the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, and Chicago Bulls. If Westbrook were to be claimed, he would likely be given a prominent role immediately given these three teams are all lacking in the point guard position. Westbrook's caveat has always been his personality fit so it remains to be seen how well he can mesh with his new team if he is claimed. 

Fantasy Basketball Fallout: Lakers

The Lakers get some much-needed spacing and size with the additions of Russell, Beasley, and Vanderbilt. Russell is shooting a career-high 39.1 percent from three while averaging 17.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game this season. Russell should absorb Westbrook's minutes and will likely start at point guard over ... [More]

The Utah Jazz have acquired shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker from the Trail Blazers in a three-team deal on Wednesday. The Jazz also receive forward Juancho Hernangomez from the Spurs, while the Trail Blazers have acquired Joe Ingles and Elijah Hughes from the Jazz. The Spurs landed point guard Tomas Satoransky to wrap up the trade. Ingles tore his ACL and is done for the season, but he was included in the trade for salary purposes and likely will not play a single game for the Trail Blazers as he is set to become a free agent after the season. Alexander-Walker is by far the most fantasy relevant player from the deal for the remainder of the 2021-22 NBA season, and the 23-year-old will provide value in deeper formats for his scoring production as a member of the second unit for the Jazz.

New Orleans Pelicans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker has entered the league's health and safety protocols. He is the first player on this team to enter protocols, so we'll see if anyone else joins him. In the meantime, Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and Trey Murphy would be candidates for increased playing time. Satoransky would be the best option out of the three, but would only be possibly a deep league option.

New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker was hot from downtown with a 6-for-9 effort on Tuesday against Portland and finished a 111-97 win with 26 points in 26 minutes off the bench. He shot 10-for-16 overall from the field and also contributed with three rebounds and four assists while recording four turnovers. This is Alexander-Walker's second-best scoring effort of the season. The Virginia Tech product has struggled with his shooting all season and Tuesday was a rare efficient night for him. It's been well over a month since the last time Alexander-Walker managed to string together two strong performances, although the next matchup against the Magic is a good spot to do some damage again.

New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored a team-high 24 points on 8-for-18 shooting in Wednesday's loss to Miami, hitting 4-for-8 from downtown and 4-for-6 at the foul line. The 23-year-old also grabbed four rebounds and handed out two assists with one steal and zero turnovers across 28 minutes of action. Alexander-Walker has now gone for 20-plus points three times in his past five outings and the run includes a 33-point effort, but it also had a four-point dud. The Virginia Tech product must work on his consistency to not scare off fantasy managers. The next matchup against the Clippers and the league's second-most efficient defense doesn't look promising at all for Alexander-Walker.

New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker had his best outing of the season in Wednesday's home loss against the Thunder, leading all scorers with 33 points on 10-for-22 shooting. He nailed four of 10 attempts from behind the arc and shot 9-for-11 at the foul line. Alexander-Walker also picked up his second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds and delivered four assists with two steals, one block and zero turnovers in 34 minutes. This was a superb performance from the 23-year-old, and the Pelicans will hope for more of the same with Zion Williamson (foot) and Brandon Ingram (hip) sidelined. New Orleans gets a very tough matchup against Brooklyn next, but they can close the week against the Grizzlies and their 28th-ranked defense.

New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker may have finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds -- the latter of which set a new career high -- on Saturday, but there were some rough shooting figures underneath the surface. Alexander-Walker fired up a game-high 24 shots, making only six; he went 2-for-13 from behind the arc, emblematic of a rough all-around night for the Pelicans from behind the arc (22.5% as a team). While he also logged five turnovers, Alexander-Walker's elevated role in the offense is arguably the biggest takeaway. He now holds an enormous DFS ceiling moving forward, while getting a season-long boost in category-style leagues. He gets to run it back against Minnesota on Monday.

New Orleans Pelicans point guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker draws the start in his team's opening game of the season against the 76ers. Alexander-Walker steps into quite the opportunity with Lonzo Ball now in Chicago- and should be expected to handle the point guard duties for the Pelicans- with Devonte' Graham playing off the ball. It could be a lucrative opportunity for Alexander-Walker, who has averaged 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game in his career as a starter. Look for him to get off to a good start in what could be a high-scoring game against Philadelphia.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to trade center Jonas Valanciunas to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for center Steven Adams, guard Eric Bledsoe and a swap of multiple draft choices, a person familiar with the situation said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Monday because no trade can become official until Aug. 6. The trade, first reported by ESPN, sends New Orleans' 10th and 40th overall draft choices to Memphis for the Grizzlies' 17th and 51st overall picks this year. Memphis also will receive a protected 2022 first-round choice from New Orleans. The deal comes on the heels of New Orleans' decision to hire Willie Green, their third head coach in three seasons, as the franchise faces mounting pressure to inspire confidence in star forward Zion Williamson after missing the playoffs his first two NBA campaigns. Valanciunas has played nine seasons in the NBA, averaging 12.9 and 9.2 points per game. The 29-year-old center from... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson and the mercurial New Orleans Pelicans may yet have something to say about the NBA postseason. San Antonio’s recent five-game skid has helped the Pelicans pull within 1 1/2 games of the final Western Conference play-in spot with six games to go. Meanwhile, the Pelicans have shaken off seemingly back-breaking losses to win three out of four, with their past two victories each requiring fourth-quarter comebacks. “It says a lot about our character,” Williamson said after Tuesday night's victory over Golden State. “We’ve been resilient all year long and we’re not going to stop now.” The next challenge for the Pelicans requires taking their banged-up squad on the road for five games against certain or potential playoff teams. The trip starts Friday at Eastern Conference leader Philadelphia, where Pelicans second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram will be out of the lineup with a left ankle sprain. It's also unclear when Ingram will return after that. The Pelicans... [More]

Two people with knowledge of the situation say Stan Van Gundy has agreed to become the next coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, where he’ll get the chance to work with No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson. Van Gundy agreed to a four-year contract, according to one of the people who spoke Wednesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the hiring had not been announced. In New Orleans, Van Gundy will replace Alvin Gentry, who was let go after the Pelicans missed this season’s playoffs. Part of the problem for the Pelicans this season was that Williamson missed most of the season; he averaged 22.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 58% shooting, albeit in only 24 games. The Pelicans were 30-42 this past season. They have a promising young core with Williamson, Most Improved Player Brandon Ingram, Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, plus currently hold four picks in this year’s draft. Van Gundy spent parts of 12 seasons coaching Miami, Orlando and Detroit, winning... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — All-Star starters Luka Doncic of Dallas and Trae Young of Atlanta headlined the list of players released Friday to participate in the Rising Stars game at All-Star weekend in Chicago.Also on the list: likely rookie of the year frontrunner Ja Morant of Memphis, and No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson of New Orleans.The format has 10 first- and second-year players from the U.S. on one team, against 10 first- and second-year players from other nations. Doncic leads the World team, joined by Nickeil Alexander-Walker of New Orleans, Deandre Ayton of Phoenix, RJ Barrett of New York, Brandon Clarke of Memphis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City, Rui Hachimura and Moritz Wagner of Washington, Svi Mykhailiuk of Detroit and Josh Okogie of Minnesota.Joining Young, Morant and Williamson on the U.S. team are Miles Bridges, PJ Washington and Devonte’ Graham of Charlotte, Wendell Carter Jr. of Chicago, Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn of Miami, Jaren Jackson Jr. of Memphis and Eric Paschall of Golden State.Williamson is an injury replacement for Carter, who has a sprained right ankle and is not expected to play for the Bulls until after the All-Star break.With Alexander-Walker, Barrett, Clarke and Gilgeous-Alexander, the game features a record four Canadians. Hachimura is the first Japanese player to be selected for the game.The game is Friday, Feb. 14.__More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Protesters handed out T-shirts and held up signs in support of Hong Kong on Wednesday night when the Washington Wizards hosted a team from the Chinese Basketball Association.The Wizards beat the Guangzhou Long-Lions 137-98 in a game that included more than a half-dozen protests inside Capital One Arena over the NBA's ongoing rift with the Chinese government.Protesters handed out "Free Hong Kong" T-shirts on the street outside the arena before the exhibition game. The protesters, who said they were from Freedom House, held up signs reading, "Shame the NBA," ''South Park was right" and "Memo to the NBA: Principles over profit! No censorship! USA loves Hong Kong."The problems between the NBA and China began after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted a tweet last week that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.The NBA has not apologized for Morey's remarks.A Freedom House spokeswoman said some members were planning to protest inside during the game. A spokeswoman... [More]

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Zion Williamson has thoroughly enjoyed his jet-setting, appearance-making first offseason as a pro.The Pelicans' top overall draft choice suspects he'll like his first training camp even more."It's been crazy and fun. Always on the move," Williamson said Monday of the months since he left Duke for the NBA. "I think when people look at what I'm doing, they'd say it's very stressful, but I'm having fun with it."Bouncing from city to city, sitting in three-, four-hour meetings, listening to people trying to pitch you on their company. It's a lot, and only having like an hour or two to try to get in the gym and then hop back on a plane and go somewhere else," Williamson continued. "But for now that part has slowed down a lot. ... For now, it's just focusing on the Pelicans."In recent weeks, Williamson has increasingly been working out at Pelicans headquarters with trainers, focusing on core strength exercises and flexibility more so than traditional weights. David Griffin,... [More]

With Zion Williamson and Ja Morant out with injuries and R.J. Barrett struggling, the opportunity has presented itself for lesser-known players to get noticed during Las Vegas Summer League.Chris Clemons, an undrafted rookie from Campbell, has made an impact. In a loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, he scored 25 points on 9-for-20 shooting , made 7 of 13 3-pointers and launched his muscular 5-foot-9 frame for an alley-oop. The next day, he scored 22 points and made 5 of 11 3-pointers in a loss to Portland.He ranked third overall in Las Vegas scoring after Sunday's games — not bad for someone who wasn't even invited to the draft combine."I know I can play with these guys at this level," Clemons said.He just needs one NBA team to agree.Clemons achieved notoriety for his college scoring, leading the nation with 30 points per game this past season. He tied for the scoring title and won MVP honors at the Portsmouth Invitational in April, then earned an invitation to the G League Select... [More]

With Zion Williamson and Ja Morant out with injuries and R.J. Barrett struggling, the opportunity has presented itself for lesser-known players to get noticed during Las Vegas Summer League.Chris Clemons, an undrafted rookie from Campbell, has made an impact. In a loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, he scored 25 points on 9-for-20 shooting , made 7 of 13 3-pointers and launched his muscular 5-foot-9 frame for an alley-oop. The next day, he scored 22 points and made 5 of 11 3-pointers in a loss to Portland.He ranked third overall in Las Vegas scoring after Sunday's games — not bad for someone who wasn't even invited to the draft combine."I know I can play with these guys at this level," Clemons said.He just needs one NBA team to agree.Clemons achieved notoriety for his college scoring, leading the nation with 30 points per game this past season. He tied for the scoring title and won MVP honors at the Portsmouth Invitational in April, then earned an invitation to the G League Select... [More]