Author: rb809rb

The franchise tag window is here, and there are several big names to keep an eye this offseason.

While there are plenty of players who could pick up the tag over the next two weeks, it’s unclear how many actually will get the franchise tag. Last offseason, only two players — Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith — were tagged. The Dallas Cowboys are reportedly already planning to use the tool, so we’re halfway to reaching last year’s mark.

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Here’s everything you need to know, and who to watch out for, during the franchise tag window.

What dates is the franchise tag window open?

The franchise tag window opens on Tuesday, Feb. 17 and runs until 4 p.m. ET on March 3.

What are the franchise tag rules?

During this two-week window, teams are allowed to tag one player who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. That would then keep that player with the team for the 2026 season. The sides can still negotiate a long-term deal up until July 15. If that deadline passes without a new deal, a tagged player will play on a one-year contract under the tag’s price determined by position.

Franchise tag salaries by position for 2026

The projected franchise tag costs for each position in 2026, per Spotrac.

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Offense
QB: $47.242 million
RB: $14.186 million
WR: $28.037 million
TE: $16.007 million
OL: $27.764 million

Defense
DE: $26.710 million
DT: $27.424 million
LB: $27.559 million
CB: $20.783 million
S: $20.758 million

Special Teams
K/P: $6.846 million

Top franchise tag candidates for 2026

George Pickens, WR, Dallas Cowboys

This is an easy one, and a move the Cowboys have been planning to do for quite some time.

Pickens is coming off the best season of his career in 2025, his first with the Cowboys after being traded there from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pickens had 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns on 93 catches last season alongside star CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys will have the second-most expensive wide receiver duo in the league next season when the deal is done. The Cowboys have made it clear they want Pickens on a long-term contract, too.

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While negotiations on that deal could take some time, the Cowboys aren’t going to risk losing Pickens to free agency this offseason.

Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets

The Jets may want to spend their money elsewhere this offseason amid yet another rebuild, but Hall would be a great franchise tag option for them. That is, if they want to keep him.

Hall racked up a career-high 1,065 rushing yards with five total touchdowns last season, his fourth in the league. The former Iowa State star was easily the most consistent part of New York’s offense amid a 3-14 campaign, and he may be the top running back in the free agent market this offseason. There will undoubtedly be interest for him, and Hall would get paid if he left.

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But Hall, remember, was a big name to watch at the trade deadline. So who knows if the team even wants to utilize this option.

Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons

Pitts looked significantly better last season, much more like the dominant tight end he was during his rookie campaign. He had 928 yards and a career-high five touchdowns on 88 catches, and was a very reliable piece for the Falcons’ offense that lost both quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Drake London due to injuries.

But Pitts has been underwhelming for much of his career. Outside of his first and most recent season, Pitts has largely failed to live up to the expectations that came with being the No. 4 overall draft pick.

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If the Falcons’ new leadership still isn’t sure about committing to Pitts, tagging him for one final season might be a good move. The Falcons can then revisit his long-term future with the organization this fall.

Odafe Oweh, LB, Los Angeles Chargers

Oweh looked like a different player once he landed with the Chargers ahead of the trade deadline. Oweh had 7.5 sacks and 28 total tackles in just 12 games, and he had three total sacks and a pair of forced fumbles in L.A.’s playoff loss in New England. He seemed to be a very good fit for a Chargers defense that struggled frequently last fall.

The Chargers have a lot of money to spend this offseason, too, so securing Oweh could be a very easy move if the two sides can’t agree to a long-term deal. But letting Oweh walk after his revival of sorts feels like something the Chargers need to avoid.

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Daniel Jones, QB, Indianapolis Colts

This may not even be necessary, but it’s something to look out for. Both the Colts and Jones have made it clear that they want to reunite next season after Jones’ career-best start with the franchise last fall. He’s currently recovering from a torn Achilles he went down with in December, but said he expects to be ready for training camp.

If the Colts use the tag on Jones — they’ve used it only once in the past decade — expect it to be a short-term option before a real extension is reached.

Kenneth Walker III, RB, Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks rarely use the franchise tag, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change, even if they don’t want to let Walker go this offseason. On Tuesday, ESPN reported the Seahawks won’t use their franchise tag on Walker.

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Walker racked up 1,027 yards and five touchdowns on 221 carries last season while leading the Seahawks to their Super Bowl title. He was the game’s MVP, with 135 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards in the Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the Patriots. That made him the first running back to win the award in decades.

Walker will be a free agent this offseason if the Seahawks don’t reach a long-term deal with him. And the team is very likely going to want him back this fall, especially since fellow running back Zach Charbonnet is recovering from an ACL injury. Yet considering Walker’s injury history — he made it in only 11 games during the 2024 campaign, and last season was his first full season in the league — securing Walker on the tag would be an easy short-term solution for the Seahawks as they work to defend their title. Then a long-term deal, or the decision to move on, will be an issue for another day.

Which players have received the franchise tag so far?

None

LIVIGNO, Italy — The International Olympic Committee has quietly removed the link to a T-shirt in its online store commemorating the 1936 Berlin Games that were held in Nazi Germany after a controversy bubbled up last weekend about their availability.

The New York Times initially reported the shirts were sold out, prompting critics to ask why the IOC’s Heritage Collection — which features merchandise with logos from previous Olympic Games — would even carry items that appeal primarily to collectors of Nazi memorabilia.

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The IOC is also sold out of a T-shirt with a screen-printed image of a poster from the less-infamous but still problematic 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. That link remains live on the IOC store.

Historians consider both Olympics held in Germany that year to be part of Adolf Hitler’s propaganda effort to normalize the Nazi regime in the eyes of the world. Before the 1936 Winter Olympics, held in February of that year, the Nazis removed antisemitic signs that had become common all over the country to soften their image and ward off any potential boycotts.

The Garmisch-Partenkirchen shirt is notable because it shows the drawing of an unknown athlete wearing a bib with the Olympic rings while holding skis in his left hand and raising his right arm toward the sky, a pose that appears similar to a Nazi salute. The artist who designed that graphic was Ludwig Hohlwein, who worked closely with Joseph Goebbels to create propaganda posters for the Nazis.

In a statement to Yahoo Sports, the IOC suggested they are compelled to make this merchandise available to maintain intellectual property rights and trademarks so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands — presumably to bootleg retailers who would then sell the items to Nazi memorabilia collectors.

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“The validity of these trademarks depends on their actual use,” the IOC wrote. “If they are not used by their owner, other parties could use them for their purposes.

“As part of this responsibility, the IOC maintains an Olympic Heritage Collection that reflects more than 130 years of Olympic art and design. This collection presents assets such as emblems, pictograms, posters and mascots from every edition of the Games as historical artefacts. Maintaining a use of these historical elements also helps ensure they are not abused. In recent years, this stewardship has enabled the IOC to reduce widespread unauthorized third-party use of 1936 Games related assets.”

However, it’s notable that the Berlin Games shirt is no longer listed among other Heritage Collection items on the IOC’s online store. A search for “Berlin” yields no results, and the shirt that sparked the controversy has been removed entirely — whereas it previously showed up on the site as sold out. Google search results show a link to the shirt, but the link now leads to the generic storefront.

A similar search for the Garmisch-Partenkirchen shirt still has a working link to the item with a notation that it is “out of stock.”

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Asked if the Berlin shirt no longer appears there because it sold out or was removed as a result of the attention and controversy it generated in recent days, the IOC responded: “As noted in our last email, the limited number of items are sold out.”

As they did before the 1936 Winter Games, the Nazis went to great lengths to cover up their climate of racism and antisemitism before the world came to Berlin in 1936 and some laws were not enforced in hopes of avoiding scrutiny from the international community and media.

It begs the question: Who would be drawn to merchandise recalling those Olympics and why would the IOC even make it available?

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“Of course, we recognise the profound historical context surrounding the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games,” the IOC wrote in a statement. “The 1936 Games also brought together 4,483 athletes from 49 countries competing in 149 events and included remarkable sporting achievements — among them those of Jesse Owens — that remain an important part of Olympic history. The broader historical context of these Games is explored in detail at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.”

But a T-shirt shop is not a museum. And there are no T-shirts featuring pictures of Jesse Owens.

Caleb Wilson is from Atlanta, but he bleeds Carolina blue. That was especially evident when the 19-year-old forward scored 17 of the now-No. 16 Tar Heels’ 29 first-half points in their thrilling win over then-No. 4 Duke on Feb. 7. He’s one of the top prospects in a highly anticipated NBA Draft, but it’s clear North Carolina has his undivided attention.

It’s only been a week since he suffered a fracture in his left hand during the first half of a loss to Miami, and Wilson is already on track to return “soon,” according to UNC coach Hubert Davis.

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Wilson’s injury is on his non-shooting hand. He’s been playing with a cast on that hand, and Davis said he’s been good in practice.

“Caleb, he is great,” Davis said Monday night on his semi-weekly radio show, per ESPN. “I think if I said ‘OK,’ I think he would play with his cast on or his splint. I think he would.

“He’s just champing at the bit to come back because obviously he loves to play, but he loves his teammates and he loves playing here.”

Davis’ update comes four days after UNC announced Wilson would be out “indefinitely.” The school explained at the time that, even though Wilson’s mid-game X-rays came back negative — and that he went back in during the second half against Miami — additional imaging done in Chapel Hill revealed the fracture.

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Similar to Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Wilson is drawing serious interest from NBA teams.

He’s a former five-star prospect who was the No. 5 overall recruit in last year’s class, according to Rivals’ industry ranking. He hit the ground running at UNC, where he’s averaged a team-leading 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 57.8% from the field.

The 6-foot-10 Wilson is also posting 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

He started his collegiate career by scoring in double figures in each of his 24 games — no Tar Heels freshman had done that before — and his 17 20-point games are already a freshman program record as well.

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“You will not have a better player, person and teammate than Caleb,” Davis said, via ESPN. “It’s just impossible. There is just no way you can do it. What a great example of when things weren’t particularly going his way in regards to his hand, he’s still a great teammate.”

UNC improved to 20-5, including 8-4 in ACC play, in a 79-65 win over Pitt on Saturday without Wilson.

The Tar Heels play Tuesday night on the road against North Carolina State. They have top-25 games remaining versus No. 21 Louisville and now-No. 3 Duke. Their rematch with the Blue Devils will take place in Durham for the teams’ March 7 regular-season finale.

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly extended an olive branch to All-Star forward LeBron James and would welcome him back for season No. 24.

“If James wants to play a 24th season, he would be welcomed back in L.A., sources told ESPN. Pelinka declared before the start of this season that he would love it if James retired a Laker, and, sources told ESPN, that sentiment was meant to reflect a 2026 retirement or a 2027 retirement, if James intends to extend his career.”

James is in the final year of his current deal, making $52.6 million, and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Lakers’ future could hinge on what happens with James this summer because it’s hard to see the four-time NBA champion and MVP taking a major pay cut.

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[Get more Lakers news: Los Angeles team feed]

Wherever James plays next, it could be the final chapter (or two) in his storied NBA career. There have been rumors circulating that James could end his career where it began in Cleveland.

Lakers team governor Jeanie Buss was recently asked about James’ future in purple and gold while speaking with Alex Sherman of CNBC and gave her take on the situation.

“Never say never, but you know, he certainly hasn’t given an indication,” Buss explained. “He’s earned the right to decide how his career will go, and you know, he continues to impress.”

In Year 23 (his 8th in Los Angeles), James is averaging 22 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game. While James’ numbers are down in many statistical categories across the board, he was an All-Star for the 22nd time this season, and the Lakers are currently sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference at 33-21.

Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban believes the NBA should embrace tanking. No, really.

Cuban, who still owns a minority stake in the Mavs, went on a lengthy diatribe Tuesday in which he described his feelings on the subject. In his post, Cuban outlined why he believes the NBA should focus on “creating experiences for fans” and admitted to tanking while he was running the Mavs.

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In Cuban’s post — which can be read in full here — he claimed that fans don’t necessarily want to see their teams compete every single night. Cuban said fans don’t necessarily remember specific scores, dunks or shots from games. Instead, he argued, they remember the people who attended the game with them.

Cuban said fans are aware a team cannot win every single game, but that the hope of improvement is what drives fans forward. Sometimes, the easiest way to do that is to tank, per Cuban.

“Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fans that care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring.

“The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3 , when you tank.”

Cuban then admitted to tanking while he was running the Mavericks. He claimed the team didn’t tank “often,” but said the fans appreciated when the Mavericks pushed for better draft position. Cuban said tanking helped the team secure Luka Dončić during the 2018 NBA Draft.

Cuban eventually tried to connect the two issues, and argued “pricing fans out of games” is a bigger problem than tanking.

“You know who cares the least about tanking, a parent who can’t afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player.

“Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are.”

A few hours later, Cuban sent a lengthy follow-up to his initial tweet. In it, he explained why tanking was more viable than ever now. The tweet, which contains some NSFW language, can be read in full here. Cuban ultimately concludes that — based on the current NBA rules — getting the most out of players on rookie deals is the easiest way to win games. Sometimes, a team has to tank to get the most elite rookies in the draft.

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Cuban said the real issue there is that the team has to lie to its fans when it tanks. Otherwise, that team will receive a hefty fine from the NBA. Cuban called for a scenario where teams could be more open about their intentions, saying he wished teams could be upfront about tanking for a draft pick and communicating why they were taking that approach with fans.

In that scenario, Cuban also called for some accountability, saying a team owner should then meet with season-ticket holders and fans to answer questions about the team’s approach.

Many of Cuban’s opinions should get support from fans, though some of his leaps in logic don’t exactly fit, particularly Cuban’s attempt to connect tanking with making games more affordable and growing fandom. There are plenty of ways for a team to grow fandom in sports. Offering affordable tickets certainly feels like a good way to get a wide number of fans invested in the team. Winning games is also pretty important on that end, though. It’s a lot more fun to support a team that’s playing well.

To Cuban’s point, there are times when tanking does seem like an advantageous option for franchises. And after seeing the tactic put into place a number of times — and occasionally result in success — the practice is more accepted among fan bases at this point.

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Fans are capable of understanding when it’s the right move to try and secure the top pick in the draft. It’s not always a guarantee that works out, but having a shot at more elite talent in the draft can make a huge impact on a franchise if the player selected is a superstar.

But that also results in a lot of bad basketball, especially during the second half of an NBA season. If a team has virtually no shot at winning, it’s going to be tough to draw fans out to the game, regardless of how cheap it is to attend.

With the fresh fantasy baseball season approaching, it’s time to get you some tiered rankings from my Shuffle Up series. Use these for salary cap drafts, straight drafts, keeper decisions or merely a view of how the position ebbs and flows. The infield started last week and wrapped on Monday; now, we head to the outfield. The pitchers will follow later this week.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]

(Shohei Ohtani — batter version — and Marcell Ozuna only qualify at the utility spot; I have included them in the outfield.)

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The numbers are unscientific in nature and meant to reflect where talent clusters and drops off. Assume a 5×5 scoring system, as usual, and away we go.

More Tiered Rankings

The Big Tickets

You’re welcome to break the Judge/Ohtani tie any way you like. They’ll obviously go 1-2 in some order in most leagues. Judge is three years older, but Ohtani also carries the strain of his side pitching assignments. Both players are supported by deep lineups behind them. Ohtani’s 59 steals from two years ago proved to be an outlier; he did it for fun once, but probably now recognizes it doesn’t make sense to run that aggressively in the regular season. More than any other club in baseball, the Dodgers start each year with October health in mind.

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Announcer Keith Hernandez has said for years that any ballplayer could probably steal 15 bases or so if he merely put in the effort. Soto took it a step further, leading the National League with 38 swipes in 42 attempts, after seven full seasons of station-to-station baseball. Even if Soto’s steals take a reasonable step back, he’s a multi-category monster entering his age-27 season. The timing could be right for his first MVP year.

Schwarber is utility-only in some formats, outfield-eligible in others. All I know is, he’s a screaming value in Round 2. The power is elite, the run production is excellent and he hasn’t been a major batting average drain for two years. He could be a zero in the steals column, but he can steal 10 if he wants (last year, he wanted to). The leadoff spot maximizes the volume. I will make sure I have some Schwarber shares this summer.

Fantasy baseball sages Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf will remind us that it’s somewhat risky to pay up for a fantasy baseball pick who’s starting a big contract and on a new team. It’s also been frustrating to see Tucker navigate injuries the last two years. On the plus side, Tucker is still just 29 and he’s now insulated by the Los Angeles lineup, one of the deepest in baseball. And given the star power in L.A. and the reasonable expectation that the Dodgers are already in the playoffs, it’s not like Tucker arrives in camp with absurd pressure on his shoulders. He’ll be a first-round pick in some leagues and an early-second-round pick in others.

Legitimate Building Blocks

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Crow-Armstrong is one of the most difficult ranks this spring. He was a legitimate MVP candidate before the break (25 homers, 27 steals, .847 OPS) and a mediocre ballplayer after it (six homers, eight steals, .634 OPS). Lefties knocked the bat out of his hand all year (.188/.217/.376). Of course, his angelic defense will hold his spot in the lineup, deservedly so. PCA’s category juice forces me to keep the salary in the high 20s, but we’ll see if I have the nerve to click on his name when the picks count in March.

My friend Joe Sheehan was explaining in his newsletter why he was going under the Houston win total this year. In part: “A full season of Yordan Alvarez will only do so much, and I’m not sure that you can ever project a full season of Yordan Alvarez.” Bingo. Another case where it’s not fun to play fantasy baseball like an actuary, but it’s almost always the prudent angle. Alvarez has the bat and zone judgement of a god, but the knees of Fred G. Sanford.

For a long time, it felt like the Bellinger career arc would never make sense, but he’s started to stabilize the last three years (average slash of .281/.338/.477, good pop, resourceful running). He was wise to re-sign in New York, a stadium where he had a .909 OPS and 18 homers last year. Welcome to the Ibañez All-Star days, where Bellinger now sits as a boring-value veteran.

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Talk Them Up, Talk Them Down

Can we just fast-forward to the days where Trout is a DH for a contending team? It’s frustrating to watch him toil for the hopeless Angels, and you wonder how much patrolling the outfield affects his durability. Trout did make it through 130 games last year — his most since 2019 — and although a .232/.359/.439 slash is under code for him, it’s a respectable 121 OPS+ when compared to league context. Pay for about 110 games this year, and be mindful that he shut down the running game several years back.

Burleson won a Silver Slugger Award last year? Oh, right, the utility slot. He’ll probably be parked at first base this year but still qualifies in the outfield. Last year’s improvement against lefties was the biggest boost to a career year, and you like drafting players on his career arc (this is the age-27 season). The Cardinals are no longer an exciting destination offense, which might give you Burleson at a mild discount.

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Kwan’s style of play is a throwback, where he’s merely looking to make contact and not concerned with how loud that contact is. Consider his Baseball Savant sliders, where his contact stats are all dreamy but his hard-hit metrics barely register. Nonetheless, he’ll find his way to 10-14 homers a year, he still runs proactively and you can count on a plus average. Diversity of style is a good thing in sports — too often it feels like everyone wants to use the same strategy — and I salute Kwan’s willingness to swim against the tide.

Some Plausible Upside

Laureano was probably the most underrated outfielder in fantasy baseball last year — he was the No. 29 outfielder in 5×5 value — and I initially had him as a double-digit value. I’m a little concerned the Nick Castellanos signing could create a logjam in the San Diego outfield, and ultimately, I decided to be prudent with Laureano’s ranking, mindful that he’s in his 30s and has never logged 500 at-bats in a season. Still, he’s an above-average hitter, and hopefully the Padres will give him some leash.

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Sánchez was a smart addition for Toronto, though he’ll open the season in a platoon (on the heavy side). This is a knockout blow for those in smaller leagues, but acceptable if you’re in medium and deeper groups. Sánchez might not run much on the red-light Blue Jays, but he can hit for a reasonable average and knock 15-18 homers.

Scott didn’t hit at all last year and still stole 34 bases; imagine what’s possible if he shows any improvement at the plate. His zone judgment is fine and although the hard-hit sliders are all on the low side, that’s not always a problem for a speed merchant. Scott enters his age-25 season, so go-time is now. The rebuilding Cardinals figure to leave him alone and grow at his own pace. Your late picks are all about upside, and Scott can legitimately check that box.

Bargain Bin

The High Score 100 — the top-100 players in Yahoo’s newest fantasy basketball format — is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production. Each weekly update captures who’s actually delivering value and who’s fading.

Here’s a breakdown of the biggest risers and fallers through the first part of the 17th week of fantasy basketball, following the All-Star break — with the complete High Score 100 at the bottom of the article. I’ll be updating my rankings every Tuesday throughout the fantasy basketball season.

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📈 Risers — Post-All-Star surges

Jalen Suggs – G, Orlando Magic: 74th overall (⬆️ 14)

Suggs has been on an insane run defensively over the past two weeks. The stocks are the primary reasons he’s been a top-10 player in High Score over that span. Through those five games, his numbers ballooned to 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game — totaling 52.4 fantasy points. That’s elite two-way guard play, just what the Magic will need as they try to move up from seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. I’d be looking to buy Suggs while his season-long ranking still looks understated.

Kevin Porter Jr. – G, Milwaukee Bucks: 43rd overall (⬆️ 9)

KPJ has only been available for 28 of the Bucks’ 53 games. However, when he plays, he’s been a top-30 guy in High Score. The move up to 44th might seem low, but I can’t ignore the injury factor. That said, he scored 57 fantasy points in Week 16 and already logged a 56-point fantasy game for Week 17. Giannis Antetokounmpo should be returning after the All-Star break, but the Bucks are also 12th in the East, about 1.5 games back from the 10th seed. Whether Giannis returns or not, KPJ could end up being the Bucks’ best fantasy asset during the final stretch of the season.

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Jamal Murray – G, Denver Nuggets: 16th overall (⬆️ 3)

Not a huge jump for Murray, but he’s been the ninth-best player in High Score over the past two weeks, averaging 52.6 fantasy points per game. Murray has typically started slowly in recent years, but he’s been a rock for the Nuggets and fantasy managers all year. Posting career bests in points, rebounds and assists, Murray is well on pace to finish as a top-20 option in High Score this season.

📉 Fallers — The tank is on

Dyson Daniels – G/FC, Atlanta Hawks: 60th overall (⬇️ 11)

While Daniels remains one of the best defenders in the Association, his fantasy output hasn’t kept pace. Through four games in February, Daniels is posting 11-4-4 with less than a steal per game with 49/25/57 shooting splits. His shooting volume is down from last season and if he can’t go to the line more than 1.5 times per game, it’ll be a challenge to get his scoring up post-All-Star break. The rebounds and assists are propping up his value, but I’d have some concern for the rest of the season if he doesn’t factor as much into Atlanta’s offensive scheme.

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Russell Westbrook – G, Sacramento Kings: 54th overall (⬇️ 7)

Zach LaVine is out for the season. Domantas Sabonis is slowly making his way back from a back injury. DeMar DeRozan is throwing water bottles on the ground. Reading between the tea leaves, the vets on the Kings will slowly be phased out as the season matures. We’re already seeing more of Devin Carter, Max Raynaud and Nique Clifford than we have all season. I’m not convinced Russ is safe. He’s dealing with an ankle injury, plus he’s played at least 30 minutes in just one of his last four games. Most of the vets in Sacramento are in trouble fantasy-wise.

Ivica Zubac – FC, Indiana Pacers: 97th overall (⬇️ 5)

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told Indy radio station 93.5/103.5 The Fan last week, “I don’t think he’s [Zubac] going to play for a while.” Zu had been playing through lingering ankle issues since he was with the Clippers. Since the Pacers are vying for one of the worst records in the league, Indy will be patient with Zubac and ensure he’s 100% before returning to the court. Obviously, we want Zu healthy, but with little urgency to get him back, his fantasy value will continue to suffer.

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Complete High Score 100 rankings

The High Score 100 is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production.

Note: Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee) and Zach LaVine (hand) were removed from the High Score 100 rankings as they were ruled out for the season.

With NBA All-Star festivities and the trade deadline now firmly in the rear view, it’s time to shift focus to the rest of the season, especially in regard to which players on new teams could make an impact.

Here are five players who were traded before the Feb. 5 deadline we should keep a keen eye on.

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Do note that players who are no longer expecting to play for their new teams won’t be on the list. That means no Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr. Due to the uncertainty of their status, Trae Young and Jonathan Kuminga have also been excluded from this exercise.

G Anfernee Simons, Chicago Bulls

The 6-foot-3 combo guard was lauded for how he played in Boston, fitting into the system and playing off Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.

That wasn’t necessarily wrong, but I believe the Celtics gave him too little to do and shortened his offensive volume more than they should have.

Simons is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in the NBA, and he’s a strong scorer who over the course of his last three seasons in Portland put up 20.7 points per game.

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There is an in-between area for Simons here. He shouldn’t be a primary shot-taker, but he’s also better than most expect as an off-ball scorer off the bench.

In Chicago, he’ll get a chance to find that balance before he hits free agency in July, after which he can become an insanely valuable member of a potential contender. The path for Simons to become relevant on a national level starts now.

Nikola Vučević, Boston Celtics

The next guy on the list is the player for whom Simons was traded. Vučević provides the Celtics with something they’ve desperately needed this season: quality big-man depth.

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Vučević will practically walk into 9-10 rebounds per night, he’ll move the ball effectively, he’ll take — and make — 3-pointers, and during dead offensive stretches, you can ask him to score off traditional post creation.

For a Celtics team that may get Jayson Tatum back this year — we’ll see how that situation develops — adding Vučević makes a lot of sense.

So far in Boston, he’s come off the bench. Neemias Queta has been playing ahead of him due to defensive reasons, but one has to wonder if that changes as the playoffs approach and the need for floor-spacing at all five positions become more necessary.

Whatever the direction, Vučević fills both a need and upgrades the center position in Boston, which could go a long way for the Celtics to make a real postseason push.

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Ayo Dosunmu, Minnesota Timberwolves

If we look at impact rather than big names, this was unquestionably the most underrated acquisition of the deadline.

Having played in Chicago his whole career, Dosunmu has flown under the national radar, to the point where most fans simply aren’t aware of how good he is.

This season, with a teammate in Josh Giddey who averages 18.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists, Dosunmu was Chicago’s best guard.

He bends defenses when he moves off the ball, he’s a terrific point-of-attack defender, and at 6-4 with long arms and great defensive anticipation, you can ask him to play three positions.

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Dosunmu, who averages 15 points and has hit almost 44.7% of his triples this year, should be Minnesota’s starting point guard when it enter the playoffs. On paper, he’s the perfect backcourt mate to Anthony Edwards, and he could be a major reason for a potential Wolves run.

Luke Kennard, Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have far too many one-way players, and the Kennard acquisition doesn’t help that. However, he does provide such a unique skill in terms of his elite 3-point shooting that you live with it.

The Lakers have been a bad-to-dreadful team from behind the arc this season. Luka Dončić has time and time again collapsed defenses and sent the ball outside to shooters, only to hear the sound of a clank as the ball hits the rim and bounces off.

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That should change with Kennard, who is hitting a league-leading 49.4% of his 3-point shots this season, 98.7% of which are assisted.

That should go a long way for Los Angeles to gain better floor-spacing, especially as it moves closer to the playoffs.

There’s an added benefit with Kennard in that he provides some pick-and-roll creation in the second unit, which the Lakers also sorely need.

Ivica Zubac, Indiana Pacers

While Indiana made a drastic overpay for the services of Zubac, it’s impossible to hate the theoretical fit between him and Tyrese Haliburton, when the latter returns.

For now, we’ll have to settle for just Zubac, and that’s probably a good thing for him, as a bigger role to wrap up this season could accelerate his comfort level with the Pacers and have him enter next season more acquainted with his surroundings and the system.

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Zubac is the center Indiana has needed all year — and even during stretches in the Myles Turner era. He’s a formidable rebounder (11 per game in just over 30 minutes) and a strong post defender, and he plays well off lead guards.

While Zubac doesn’t stretch the floor, he will bully his opponents underneath the basket and eventually help clear space for Haliburton to attack, which should become an intriguing wrinkle in the Pacers’ future offense.

For now, he’ll have to get comfortable with Indiana’s roster and develop solid interplay with Pascal Siakam.

Oregon left tackle Isaiah World’s knee injury during the Ducks’ Peach Bowl loss to Indiana was significant.

According to The Athletic, World suffered a torn left ACL in the first half. He missed the second half of the game as the Hoosiers beat the Ducks for a second time during the 2025 season on their way to the national championship.

In addition to World, offensive lineman Dave Iuli was also forced to leave the 56-22 loss due to an injury. Oregon also entered the game very thin at running back after Jordon Davison suffered a broken collarbone in the team’s Orange Bowl win over Texas Tech.

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World has been viewed as a potential Day 2 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He’ll probably miss much, if not all of training camp ahead of his rookie season and, likely, the start of the 2026 season.

He was a second-team all Big Ten selection among media members in his only season with the Ducks. World transferred to Oregon to solidify its offensive line after spending his first four seasons at Nevada. He became a starter early in his redshirt freshman season with the Wolf Pack and was named an honorable mention member of the All-Mountain West team in each of his last two seasons at Nevada.

World was one of 319 players invited to the NFL scouting combine later this month despite the injury. After going undefeated during the 2024 regular season before losing to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Oregon’s only two losses of the 2025 season came to Indiana.

Nate Tice & Matt Harmon deep dive on the 8 most QB-needy teams in the NFL to determine who will be starting for them Week 1. The duo start with their reactions to the latest coordinator hires around the NFL, including the Seattle Seahawks finding their Klint Kubiak replacement in new OC Brian Fleury.

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Next, Nate & Matt play quarterback matchmaker for the 8 most QB-needy teams in the NFL. The two hosts start with deep dives on the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins (would Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill be interesting names in the free agent market?), Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.

Later, Nate & Matt find quarterback matches for the Indianapolis Colts (franchise tag Daniel Jones?), Minnesota Vikings (will JJ McCarthy get another shot?), Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons.

(4:50) – Latest coordinator hire reactions

(16:40) – QB matchmaker: Jets

(29:20) – QB matchmaker: Dolphins

(40:10) – QB matchmaker: Steelers

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(46:20) – QB matchmaker: Browns

(57:30) – QB matchmaker: Colts

(1:05:40) – QB matchmaker: Vikings

(1:17:40) – QB matchmaker: Cardinals

(1:22:50) – QB matchmaker: Falcons

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube