Fantasy Basketball Week 12 Schedule Primer: Will Victor Wembanyama Be Able to Play?

With the holidays in the rearview mirror, the NBA slate has a more familiar look in Week 12. There are three days, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, with double-digit games, with Thursday being the light day. Unfortunately, fantasy managers have a lot of injuries to deal with, including Denver’s Nikola Jokić and San Antonio Victor Wembanyama. As always, availability and scheduling will influence how managers build their rosters for what they hope will be a successful week. Let’s take a look at the Week 12 schedule and some of its main storylines.

Week 12 games played

4 games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, DEN, GSW, HOU, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIN, NOR, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SAS, TOR, UTA, WAS

Announcement

3 games: BKN, CLE, DAL, DET, IND, LAL, MIL, SAC

Week 12 One after another

Sunday (week 11)-Monday: DEN, DET, OKC, PHX

Monday-Tuesday: Nobody

Tuesday-Wednesday: LAL, MEM, NOR, ORL, SAS, ERA

Wednesday-Thursday: CHA, CHI, UTA

Thursday-Friday: Nobody

Friday-Saturday: BOS, LAC

Saturday-Sunday: MIA, MIN, SAS

Sunday-Monday (Week 13): BKN, PHI, SAC, TOR

NBA verbal report: Injuries to Nikola Jokic, Austin Reaves and others have changed the landscape

We examine the changing rotations, finding out which players deserve more attention or are falling out of favor.

Week 12 Noteworthy plots

– Thursday is the light games day of week 12.

Thursday is the only game with fewer than six games on the schedule, being a four-game night. Three of the eight teams in the field, Charlotte, Chicago and Utah, will face each other consecutively. All three have some availability issues. The Hornets have been hit hard by injuries in the frontcourt Ryan Kalkbrenner, Moussa Diabaté AND Mason Plumlee all are missing the team’s final game of Week 11. Plumlee underwent surgery and is contemplating a long-term absence, but fantasy managers will still be more concerned about Kalkbrenner and Diabaté. PJ Sala he’s made a few starts and could have value in deep leagues given injuries and the Hornets’ four-game Week 12 schedule.

Announcement

As for Chicago, the most significant injuries occurred on the perimeter, with Josh Giddey AND Coby White set aside. Giddey will be re-evaluated in two weeks after straining his left hamstring, while White’s right calf injury will keep him out for at least a week. With those two off the board, Three Jones, Ayo Dosunmu AND Kevin Huerter they will all have increased fantasy value in Week 12, and the Wednesday/Thursday back-to-back shouldn’t be a problem for any of them, as long as they get through Chicago’s first two games of Week 12 unscathed.

Finally there’s Utah, which in the past hasn’t needed the excuse of back-to-backs to sit key players. Lauri Markkanen AND Jusuf Nurkić have been sidelined on multiple occasions and Keyonté George he missed the team’s New Year’s Eve loss to the Clippers. It’s not “silly season” yet, but the players like it Kyle Filipowski, Brice Sensabaugh AND Isaiah Collier are about to take on greater importance during week 12.

– Prepare to leave the Lakers marginal at the end of Friday’s games.

Not only will the Lakers play only three games in Week 12, but they will not be active on Saturday or Sunday. While the absences of Austin Reaves AND Rui Hachimura might complicate things for some fantasy managers, others will likely conclude that it’s better to rifle the waiver wire looking for value during the final two days of Week 12 rather than hold on Marco Intelligente OR Jake LaRavia. The Lakers’ three games are against New Orleans, San Antonio and Milwaukee, starting on back-to-back Tuesday/Wednesday.

Announcement

– Miami, Minnesota and San Antonio conclude Week 12 with back-to-back games Saturday/Sunday.

These three teams could prove very valuable to fantasy managers at the end of the week as they will be active on Saturday and Sunday. While a player like the one from Minnesota Mike Conley it won’t be great to have him, since he hasn’t played both consecutive games, some interesting options should be available in most leagues. The one in Miami Jaime Jaquez Jr. AND Nikola Jovicand that of Sant’Antonio Giuliano Champagne there are three who could have added value towards the end of week 12, both due to their production and injuries to other rotation players.

– How long will Spurs be without Victor Wembanyama?

As for the Spurs, will Wembanyama be available in Week 12? And if so, how many games will he play? While San Antonio is scheduled to play four games, it has two straight, which could limit the 7-foot-4 phenom to two games at most if he can play early in the week. After escaping a serious left knee injury during Wednesday’s win over the Knicks, Wembanyama is listed as day-to-day and will travel with the team to Tuesday’s game at Memphis.

Announcement

This will be followed by games against the Lakers (Wednesday), Celtics (Saturday) and Timberwolves (Sunday) to conclude Week 12. Luca Kornet he was outstanding in Saturday’s loss to the Trail Blazers and will be a starter as long as Wemby is out. How much he plays when he is allowed to start depends on how well and Kelly Olynyk play. Olynyk performed better Friday against the Pacers, then played more, and the roles reversed the next night against Portland.

– Brooklyn won’t play their first game of Week 12 until Wednesday.

While the Lakers are the team to avoid at the end of Week 12, the Nets won’t offer much value early in the week. Brooklyn won’t play its first game until Wednesday, the first of three games on the schedule. And the latest, Sunday at Memphis, is the first of a back-to-back series with Brooklyn visiting Dallas the following night. The back-to-back might seem big Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton (who is currently away from the team for personal reasons), Cam Thomas AND Terance Mann. The “silly season” isn’t here yet, but the players like it Egor Demin AND Danny Wolf may have added fantasy value at the end of Week 12. As for the start, that won’t be the case.