Nothing is coming easy for the Oklahoma City Thunder after a historic start to the season, but they still have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On Wednesday, that was the difference.
Facing the Utah Jazz — hardly a team fans expected to give them trouble a month ago — the Thunder found themselves down 114-112 with 2.7 seconds left, at home, having already lost six of their past 11 games. They advanced the ball with a timeout, then let Gilgeous-Alexander do his thing.
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The reigning MVP ran to the elbow and barely got an awkward shot off in time. It, naturally, went in, giving OKC another five minutes to show why it’s still the overwhelming NBA title favorite.
Things came a bit more easy for the Thunder in overtime, such as this Chet Holmgren put-back dunk off a Gilgeous-Alexander miss:
The game ended as a 129-125 Thunder win, improving their record to an NBA-best 31-7.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the night with 46 points, his second-highest total of the season, on 14-of-26 shooting, plus 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Holmgren had 23 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.
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The Thunder will gladly take the win, especially on a night where they shot 7 of 38 from 3-point range. Still, getting pushed to OT by the 12-24 Jazz — or, rather, having to push the Jazz to OT — feels like an ominous sign for a team that lost its unstoppable reputation over the past few weeks, especially after a 27-point home loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
“It’s not always going to be pretty. We’ve got to play a lot better if we want to get to where we want to get to. Nonetheless, we won the game. Rather learn the lessons in a win than a loss.”
OKC’s next two games are against the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat, both teams in the play-in range of the current standings. After that, though, is yet another clash with the San Antonio Spurs team that humbled the defending champs three times in December. There would be no better way to show the team is back on track.
The first meeting between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers came back in 1921, when the Bears were the Chicago Staleys. And somehow, the teams have met only twice in the playoffs.
In 1941, the Bears beat the Packers 33-14 in a matchup between Curly Lambeau and George Halas at Wrigley Field. The only other matchup came in the NFC championship game at the end of the 2010 season, and Green Bay won, 21-14.
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Their postseason paths have only crossed twice in more than 100 years, but we finally get a tie-breaking game in the series on Saturday night.
The Packers and Bears had two highly entertaining games already this season. The Packers won the first game when a fourth-down pass by Caleb Williams was picked off in the final seconds. The Packers were ahead for most of the second meeting, but a huge Chicago rally late in the fourth quarter, including a rare successful onside kick, led to the Bears’ overtime win.
The Bears should feel like they could have won the first meeting. The Packers should feel like they got unlucky to lose the second meeting. That is the lead-in to a great Saturday night matchup in wild-card weekend.
The Packers are getting a bit healthier. They rested starters in Week 18, as they had nothing to play for. Jordan Love will be back, and Josh Jacobs will be rested after dealing with injuries for most of the second half of the season. The Bears played their starters — “Some teams, they rest their starters. We don’t. We play football,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said after Week 18 — but it didn’t go as planned. The Bears struggled for three quarters, then lost to the Lions after a fourth-quarter rally. That wasn’t great for momentum, especially after also losing in Week 17.
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Extra rest, along with the memory of the Packers outplaying the Bears for about 58 minutes in Week 16, is the reason Green Bay is the pick as a 1-point favorite for Saturday night’s game. Chicago played better as the season went on, but the last three weeks weren’t fantastic. The Bears would have gone 0-3 going into the playoffs had they not recovered an onside kick against the Packers. The Packers haven’t been great either, losing four in a row, but that counts the fluky Week 16 loss and resting starters in Week 18. If the Packers play like they did in their last trip to Soldier Field, they’ll win. As long as they don’t flub another onside kick recovery.
DJ Moore of the Chicago Bears catches a game-winning touchdown pass against Keisean Nixon in overtime of a Week 16 meeting. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
Here are the rest of the picks for wild-card weekend of the NFL playoffs, with odds from BetMGM:
Panthers (+10.5) over Rams
The Rams are clearly the much superior team. But for all the talk lately of strength of schedule (and the MVP agendas that go with it), it’s hard to blow out another NFL team. Especially on the road. In the playoffs.
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We’ve previously seen four teams make the playoffs with losing records (the 1982 strike-shortened season excluded). Two won their wild-card playoff game straight up.
The Panthers have a -69 point differential, the fourth-worst in NFL history among playoff teams. Yet, the three teams worse than the Panthers all won on wild-card weekend.
And it’s at least worth noting that the Panthers beat the Rams 31-28 in Week 13. Nobody should assume three horrible turnovers by Matthew Stafford, as he had that game, but we know the Panthers are going to have plenty of confidence that they can compete. The opposite can be true too though: The Rams won’t be surprised by the Panthers after losing to them already.
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The Rams could blow out Carolina. It’s fair to rank the Rams as the best team in the playoff field and the Panthers as the worst. There’s a reason the Rams are the biggest road favorites in playoff history during the Super Bowl era (via Yahoo Sports’ Ben Fawkes). But the NFL is often not as easy as it seems, especially with a double-digit spread involved.
Jaguars (+1) over Bills
According to DVOA, the Jaguars were the better team than the Bills. In point differential, the Jaguars were the better team than the Bills. In overall record, the Jaguars were the better team than the Bills. The Jaguars also played a much tougher schedule, since that seems to matter to a lot of people lately.
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That’s not all to say the Jaguars are clearly better (in stats like net yards per play and EPA/play the Bills rank better) but this line seems like a public perception special. The Bills have Josh Allen, and people love to overemphasize quarterbacks. The Jaguars play in a small market and are often overlooked. The Bills have far more recent history of success. They’re the more comfortable pick than Jacksonville, which came out of nowhere to win the AFC South at 13-4.
Don’t underestimate the Jaguars though. Allen is clearly capable of carrying Buffalo to a win, but Trevor Lawrence has been pretty good in the second half of the season too. The Jaguars look like a well-coached team and their eight-game winning streak isn’t fluky. It’s not surprising the Bills are favored. But maybe the Jaguars should be.
Eagles (-4.5) over 49ers
The 49ers’ Week 18 loss was illuminating. Mostly, it reinforced how impressive it was that Kyle Shanahan got his team to 12 wins before that game.
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The 49ers’ injury list throughout the season is a collection of Pro Bowlers, All-Pros and even potentially some future Hall of Famers. Seattle beating the 49ers as they did shouldn’t be too surprising; it should be surprising the 49ers were playing for the No. 1 seed in the first place.
The defense is a problem, and it won’t get better with linebacker Tatum Bethune out for the rest of the season due to injury. If you like the 49ers, it’s because they have the offense that can score enough to keep them in the game and maybe pull off the upset. But that’s not easy against an Eagles defense that is again one of the NFL’s best this season. It’s hard to back Philadelphia’s offense, which can disappear for entire games at a time, but the 49ers’ tank might be on empty.
Chargers (+3.5) over Patriots
We’re only in Year 6 of the 14-team playoff era, but you can make the argument the Chargers are the best No. 7 seed we’ve seen.
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The Chargers went 11-5 before sitting starters in Week 18, and still almost beat a Broncos team playing for the No. 1 seed. Everything about the Chargers — coaching, QB play, defense, skill-position players — is really good. We know the weakness, and that’s the offensive line. The Patriots don’t have a great pass rush, finishing 19th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric, which helps Los Angeles.
As much as strength-of-schedule debates have been overdone lately, it is fair to point out the Patriots did beat just one team that finished with a .500 record. They played a stunningly easy schedule, the third-easiest in the history of DVOA, which dates back to 1978. That doesn’t erase the Patriots’ accomplishments or disqualify Drake Maye from winning MVP. But it’s worth mentioning.
The Patriots probably should win. But the Chargers are a pretty good team to lay more than a field goal against.
Texans (-3) over Steelers
In Week 17, with a chance to clinch a division title, the Steelers didn’t score a touchdown against the Browns. That game was on the road, and DK Metcalf will be back from a two-game suspension, but how many points is it reasonable to project for the Steelers against a tougher defense than Cleveland?
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Houston’s defense is excellent. It finished second in points allowed and first in yardage allowed. The offense isn’t great, but neither is Pittsburgh’s defense.
The Steelers got to 10 wins and won the AFC South, which is a nice accomplishment. But this wasn’t a great team for much of the season. The Texans were a very good team in the second half, winning an NFL-best nine in a row. As long as the Texans offense doesn’t pull a no-show (which is possible), the Texans should win this one.
The first game of the 2025 NFL playoffs on Saturday afternoon pits the 12-5 Los Angeles Rams — one of the Super Bowl favorites with potential MVP Matthew Stafford — against an 8-9 division winner in the Carolina Panthers.
Oddsmakers and bettors aren’t convinced the game will be close — so much so the Rams are now a historic road favorite.
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Los Angeles opened as a 10-point favorite in Carolina at BetMGM, and the line has moved to -10.5 (and even up to -11 at some books). If that line holds, it would make the Rams the biggest playoff road favorite in the Super Bowl era, according to Sports Odds History — which goes all the way back to 1966.
“We opened Rams -10, but it’s been one-sided wagering so far,” Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City, told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “All public money on the Rams. We’re up to -10.5 right now, with the total still at 46.5.”
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 10-point road favorites at the Washington Commanders in 2021, while the New Orleans Saints were 9.5- or 10-point road favorites at the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 in Marshawn Lynch’s famous “Beast Quake” game. Both underdogs covered, with the Seahawks winning outright 41-36 over Drew Brees’ Saints.
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In fact, playoff road favorites of at least 4.5 points are 1-6-1 against the spread since 1966 and have gone 4-4 straight up.
The Rams lost 31-28 at Carolina in Week 13 as a 10-point favorite this season, a game in which Bryce Young threw three touchdown passes and Stafford had one of his worst games of the year with three interceptions.
Los Angeles was one of the best teams against the spread this season at 12-5, while the Panthers were 10-7 ATS. All eight games Carolina won were as an underdog, but the Panthers are 8-0 ATS after a loss this season. Carolina lost 16-14 in Week 18 against the Bucs.
Former Florida State and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher does not like how multiple Ole Miss assistants will not be coaching the Rebels on Thursday night in the Fiesta Bowl.
Four offensive assistants are going with Lane Kiffin to LSU. Though offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and running backs coach Kevin Smith will be with the Rebels against Miami, tight ends coach Joe Cox and wide receivers coach George McDonald will not be with the team. And Fisher thinks Kiffin has become a “villain” for the way his departure has played out.
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On the ACC Network’s “Inside ACCess” Wednesday night, Fisher hypothesized that what Kiffin “didn’t bank on, was [Ole Miss] winning” in the College Football Playoff. As Kiffin recruits for his new job — one that he thought gave him a better chance at a national title — Ole Miss is a win away from playing for a national championship itself.
“He thought his dysfunction of leaving would cause them the dysfunction,” Fisher said. “No, it united them. And those coaches went back because they love the kids and they did it and now he’s pulling them back. When you made that decision back then to say they can coach, they should coach all the way through. I’m not saying they can’t go recruit during the day, during the week, can game plan — you’ve got computers, you can break down the game plan, call the kids, have a Zoom meeting and then I’ll be back for the game, I’ll be back two days before the game — that’s where he’s wrong.
“He thinks he’s made out to be the villain. He is right now. Because that is wrong. Those kids have an opportunity to do something — You know that national championship ring I have? … You don’t get those opportunities. And what they have done. And for them to have the opportunity to win a national championship … you made that decision a month ago, you live it out all throughout the playoffs. And he’s wrong for doing it and I’ll say he’s wrong. I have no problem saying that.”
New Ole Miss coach Pete Golding has the opportunity to go 3-0 in the College Football Playoff before Kiffin has ever coached a playoff game himself. Golding, the team’s defensive coordinator, was installed as Ole Miss’ coach as Kiffin was in the process of leaving for LSU. And the Rebels have beaten Tulane and Georgia to be two wins away from their first national title in over 60 years.
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Wednesday, Golding made it clear that he wanted to build a program where “one person, one player or anything like that” won’t derail it.
“I’m replaceable, you’re replaceable, our players are replaceable,” Golding said. “I think you want to build a program to where it’s heading in the right direction and one person, one player or anything like that’s not going to derail that.
“There’s been too much invested in that, and it’s been aligned correctly that one person is not going to impact something so drastically. If it is, it’s probably not built right. If one coach in any sport can determine the outcome of it, he probably doesn’t have a very good staff. I mean, if one player can determine the outcome of it, we probably didn’t recruit and create the right depth.”
Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was subject to intense trade rumors over the offseason. With the Bucks seemingly in rebuilding mode, it was thought the team would entertain the idea of trading away their superstar in exchange for draft picks. And if the team was reluctant to do that, there were some who thought Antetokounmpo would force the issue.
“There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment, that I will come out and say ‘I want a trade,’” Antetokounmpo, who can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2027, told The Athletic. “That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”
The fact that Antetokounmpo was willing to make that statement now carries some extra weight. With the Bucks sitting at 16-21, and the trade deadline less than a month away, it doesn’t appear Antetokounmpo is willing to give up on the franchise just yet.
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While things haven’t gone well for the Bucks this season, the team has played 14 games without Antetokounmpo due to injuries. With the superstar back and healthy, Milwaukee could go on a run. Following Wednesday’s 120-113 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Bucks are 4-2 since Antetokounmpo’s return.
Antetokounmpo’s statement, however, doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to stay with the Bucks his entire career. The franchise could still trade Antetokounmpo if it feels he’ll bring back a desirable package of draft picks and promising, young players.
There’s also the issue of Antetokounmpo’s contract. The 31-year-old can sign a four-year, $275 million extension in October, and while he’s said he wants to stay with the Bucks his entire career, that represents a possible choke point where things could fall apart.
Shortly after joining the Bucks in 2013, Antetokounmpo developed into one of the best players in the NBA. Since the 2016-17 NBA season, he’s averaged 28.4 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He’s won numerous awards, including Most Improved Player, MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. He’s been elected to nine All-Star teams and has been named to the All-NBA First Team seven times.
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He also brought a championship back to Milwaukee, leading the team to a title during the 2020-21 NBA season.
Antetokounmpo has said he wants to play for a contender his entire career. While the Bucks have remained in contention with Antetokounmpo in recent seasons, the team hasn’t been able to make deep postseason runs.
Barring a turnaround, the Bucks could find themselves in a similar situation later this season. Whether that changes Antetokounmpo’s mind about sticking around remains to be seen. For now, he’s committed to winning another championship in Milwaukee.
ATLANTA — Doesn’t Indiana know that college football programs bursting onto the national scene are supposed to hit their once-in-a-lifetime peak and go back to where they came from?
That’s what the history of the sport says.
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The blue bloods might wobble and even collapse, but over the course of time they bounce back and sustain. The new bloods? They come and go, usually because they got there with a special quarterback who can’t be replaced or a coach whose magic can’t be replicated. The stars don’t stay aligned forever.
See, Indiana hasn’t just been rolling through the postseason over the last month. The Hoosiers have also been crushing it in the transfer portal, landing what On3 has ranked the No. 2 transfer class so far. It suggests Curt Cignetti has done something this season just as hard as winning games: He’s transformed Indiana into a hot program for recruits.
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“Football-wise, Coach Cig, you see the body of work that he has, the people that he develops, seeing the success he’s had all the way from where he’s been, it’s something that you want to be a part of,” Indiana receiver Elijah Sarratt said. “Then you come to this campus and meet him and what he’s saying, you really believe what you can do. The stuff you get in his office on a visit, he’s telling you this and that, but it’s actually true. You commit, you come in, and then what he’s preaching is actually what you’re doing.”
Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers could be the first college football team in history to go 16-0. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
As we know, recruiting guarantees nothing. Portal classes go bust all the time. If talent projections automatically meant results, we wouldn’t have a final four of Indiana (preseason No. 20), Oregon (preseason No. 7), Miami (preseason No. 10) and Ole Miss (preseason No. 21).
But anyone who thought Indiana was going away after this two-year Cignetti spike is probably going to be wrong.
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I’ll raise my hand as guilty on all charges.
I admired Indiana’s turnaround a year ago but thought it was at least somewhat a product of drawing a weak Big Ten schedule and opponents being caught by surprise. Once the Hoosiers got a target on their back, Cignetti couldn’t possibly do it again, right?
Yeah, this time around he did it way better.
The next knock on Indiana’s success, one that continues even now to an extent, is age. It’s true that the guys who came with Cignetti from James Madison are older, experienced, cohesive in a way that is difficult to build organically in an era when players are transferring in and out of programs at whiplash speed.
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There are a lot of 22-, 23- and 24-year-olds on that Indiana roster, and the Hoosiers’ offense plays juniors and seniors almost exclusively. That probably explains, at least in part, why everything Indiana does looks so crisp and why it ranks No. 2 nationally in fewest penalty yards per game at 27.1.
“I feel like having veterans on the field makes our job easy because we have that sense to where we’ve been through it before,” said running back Roman Hemby, 23, who transferred in from Maryland. “We kind of have that mentality where we don’t flinch. Being older, I think it does help us to know that we’ve been through it. We’re battle-tested. We play for one another. I feel like that really helps us to experience that grit feeling. That helps us to win those games.”
It’s true that Cignetti’s job will get harder next year once most of those JMU transfers and a lot of the other high-impact transfers like Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza cycle out of the program.
But when you look at how Indiana is currently cleaning up in the portal with players like receiver Nick Marsh (Michigan State), running back Turbo Richard (Boston College), edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi (Kansas State) and quarterback Josh Hoover (TCU) — all among the highest-rated transfers at their position — it suggests that Indiana has a dangerous combination of recruiting momentum and money to spend.
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Given the track record, Cignetti probably isn’t putting it to waste.
“Coach Cig’s player evaluation is special,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “Obviously he doesn’t always go after the big shiny guys. He just wants guys that he knows can play. And if you can play, he wants you. And the second part of that is just the human being behind the pads. He’s going to bring in guys that mold well in the locker room, guys that are team players.”
Of course, even giving all credit to Cignetti’s brilliance as a coach and program-builder, none of this is possible without resources.
Indiana signaled it would continue being serious about football when it gave Cignetti an eight-year, $93 million extension in October shortly after the Penn State job opened up. And we know that Indiana’s heaviest hitters, including alum Mark Cuban, are helping fund the roster. Cuban, who has not offered a blank check for Indiana’s athletic wish lists over the years, told Front Office Sports in an email that he committed an amount for the transfer portal that makes the school “happier this year than last year.”
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That’s what sustainable programs do. That’s what’s required now. And Indiana is clearly prepared to continue playing the game at that level.
“I feel like our culture has definitely changed,” running back Kaelon Black said. “We’re just going to keep getting better as we go.”
Of course, now that the semifinals are upon is, the future moves to the back burner for a few days. The Hoosiers have played the biggest game in the history of their program several times this season and will do so at least once more Friday night. If Indiana wins the national title on Jan. 19, it will stand out as a unique and cherished moment in a sport where few could have conceived of the possibility. For all the administrative messiness off the field in college sports, truly anything is possible on the field.
Including the likelihood that Indiana is here to stay.
Washington gets a high-usage star to build around amid another lost season, while Atlanta finally breaks away from an era defined by exciting highlights but underwhelming results. For fantasy basketball managers, the ripple effect is just as important — this isn’t just a star changing teams, it’s a sizeable shift in usage, opportunity and value.
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Let’s break down the fantasy basketball winners, losers and pickups from the deal:
🏆 Trade winners
Trae Young – Washington Wizards
Washington was the best landing spot for the four-time All-Star. He’ll get his extension, and with no established offensive hierarchy in Washington, he’ll instantly become the primary ball-handler, shot-taker and playmaker. Expect a boost in usage rate, north of 30% (he was down to 28% this season), along with plenty of nights with a high volume of points and assists. There’s second-round, per-game value potential the rest of the way in points leagues. For 9-cat, the turnovers and FG% will still hold him back. Either way, Trae will feast in the nation’s capital — just be aware the Wizards have a protected top-eight pick in the 2026 NBA Draft and it’s of the utmost importance. Expect some rest/maintenance days to ensure that’s never in question.
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Jalen Johnson – Atlanta Hawks
With Young gone, Johnson’s already expanding role grows even larger. He continues operating as their point-forward, leading the team in touches, while pushing toward nightly near-triple-double territory. He’s a first-round value across formats for the remainder of the season.
Just look at his on/off numbers with Young over the past two seasons:
Jalen Johnson has played better all-around basketball without Trae Young on the floor since 2024-2025.
(Statmuse)
One thing that got cut off in the graphic is that Johnson is a +41 without Young, compared to -7 with him over that same duration. Either way, more counting stats and more W’s are on the way.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Atlanta Hawks
NAW came to the Hawks this summer, hitting the ground running as one of the best acquisitions from free agency. He’s already been a valuable two-way contributor, putting up career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, 3s and steals this season. McCollum will likely eat into some of his minutes, but Alexander-Walker will start and keep a similar workload that he’s seen since Young’s been out of the lineup.
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Wednesday’s trade locks in NAW as the Hawks’ secondary scorer and playmaker. He’s available in 49% of leagues, when he should be closer to 100% — especially after this news.
Alex Sarr – Washington Wizards
The player I’m most excited to see play with Young is Alex Sarr. The Wizards haven’t had a point guard capable of getting him easy baskets near the rim or utilizing his athleticism. I expect Young will change that off the rip with plenty of pick-and-roll lobs to the second-year big man. Sarr’s already improved his FG% by 7% this year (thanks to better shot selection), but he could still use some help near the rim.
In 2025–26, Alex Sarr ranks in the 44th percentile among bigs in assisted field goals at the rim — indicating a moderate reliance on teammates to create his close-range scoring opportunities
(Cleaning the Glass)
Sarr is already top 50 in High Score, top 40 in points and top 30 in 9-cat formats, so while he’s a winner by getting to play with a true PG, he’s already been far exceeding expectations in his sophomore campaign.
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📉 Trade losers
CJ McCollum – Atlanta Hawks
McCollum moved from a rebuilding team to a playoff contender instantly. His veteran presence, combined with his playmaking and scoring, will be valuable to the Hawks’ backcourt. However, I don’t expect him to play close to 31 minutes as he did in Washington. The Wizards played him to net a bigger fish, and they did exactly that. McCollum’s greatest asset is his expiring contract, so while he’ll play considerable minutes, fantasy managers can’t bank on him getting 19/3/3 in a reserve capacity.
With the Hawks clearly pivoting toward a youth movement, his minutes and touches may be inconsistent, especially as the team builds around Johnson, NAW, big man Onyeka Okongwu and two-way guard Dyson Daniels. I’d hold him in 12-team or greater leagues for now, but be ready to drop him if the minutes and production trend south. It feels like a better real-life basketball move that won’t carry the same weight for fantasy hoops.
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Bub Carrington – Washington Wizards
Carrington is a schedule-based, injury-replacement streamer at best. His efficiency woes make him hard to trust in 9-cat and while he can rack up counting stats when he actually plays, his rank in the pecking order falls once Young walks through the door.
He’s too inconsistent to be trusted unless Young gets hurt or sits for a few games for rest purposes.
↔️ Unchanged
Kyshawn George – Washington Wizards
George is still dealing with a hip injury, but his stability with the franchise is rock solid. He’s a foundational piece for Washington, and as he works his way back to the court, having a pure point guard should help him get out in transition and settle into more catch-and-shoot opportunities.
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George has shown a lot of growth initiating the offense this season — especially in pick-and-roll, where he’s playing with more pace, reading defenses and using his physicality to attack and create. Learning from a P-n-R wizard like Young will help, even though it could reduce some of his time as the primary ball-handler. It shouldn’t go away altogether, though.
George doesn’t have a timetable for his return. If you have space for him on IL, I would pick him up or hold — he’s been too good this season.
Dyson Daniels – Atlanta Hawks
Daniels remains a versatile source of rebounds, assists and stocks in fantasy. His value ranges from 70-90 depending on the format, and that won’t change with Young gone. Like Johnson, Daniels’ stats are better with Trae off the floor this season, particularly in scoring.
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More points, rebounds and assists but the same amount of steals, which are the most significant drivers of his value.
Post-trade pickups
Sharpshooting rookie Tre Johnson is the first name that came to mind because he will absorb a good portion of McCollum’s minutes at SG. A Trae and Tre backcourt sounds cool and the union will likely encourage more open looks for the rookie.
Put him on the watchlist for points leagues because his game is one-dimensional at the moment. Bilal Coulibaly is another player to watch, especially with Khris Middleton being next out the door.
The 2025 fantasy football season has come and gone, but the offseason is just beginning. Fantasy analyst Joel Smyth will go over the potential RB moves in NFL free agency that will drastically shift the fantasy outlook for 2026. Which running backs could land in new and improved spots, and which teams are primed to bring in a new player?
Early look at 2026 free agency
Most Likely Teams to Sign a Free Agent RB
1. Kansas City Chiefs
None of these four teams are necessarily a bad option, but Kansas City would be the best. Any offense led by Patrick Mahomes, even coming off an ACL tear, brings immense value. Kareem Hunt, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco have all posted top-20 fantasy seasons as part of the Chiefs offense since 2017. Even more importantly, Andy Reid has 10 seasons where a RB has scored 18+ PPR PPG, as his offense will accept a workhorse back if they have the ability.
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2. New Orleans Saints
The Saints are an intriguing No. 2. Once an aging Alvin Kamara went down, the Saints never found a consistent answer at the position, leading to the lowest fantasy points by RBs on the season. Kellen Moore was also 32nd in producing fantasy RB points in 2023 with the Chargers and an aging Austin Ekeler. So why are they No. 2? Well, the Moore-led offenses of the 2024 Eagles and 2021/2022 Cowboys all finished top-six. It’s a fast, productive offense that found its groove with Tyler Shough at quarterback mid-way through the season.
3. Minnesota Vikings
The quarterback situation is … not ideal. However, coaching is beautiful, and the offensive line is just as good. Unlike the two teams above, Minnesota ranks as one of the best run-blocking offensive lines, finishing third in Run Block Win Rate. Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason are both under contract for 2026 but Jones could be let go to clear cap space.
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4. Houston Texans
The Texans offensive line is the biggest factor in slotting them fourth. They will need to make multiple offseason moves, as well as getting healthy, to fix their line, which ranked 32nd in Run Block Win Rate in 2025. Fourth-round rookie Woody Marks flashed in moments throughout the season as the Houston defense helped control the game and keep the Texans’ offense in possession for extended periods. It would still be a net positive to land in Houston over many other destinations.
Please land elsewhere
Breece Hall
For the first time in his career, Breece Hall ran for 1,000 yards. His two best seasons came as a rookie, which ended short because of an ACL tear, and the following season in 2023, where 55% of his fantasy points came through the air. In his four seasons with New York, the Jets rank 32nd in scoring offense, yet Hall has been at worst RB21 in PPG. He’s a bellcow back with incredible pass-catching skills who has only been given 20 goal-line carries in his career, not because he doesn’t have the role, but because New York is never there. If one of the most talented backs in the NFL lands anywhere else, his RB2 overall season from 2023 could return in a hurry.
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Kenneth Walker III
Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs ranked second and third in missed tackles forced per attempt this season. The only player above them was fantasy bust Kenneth Walker III, ranking No. 1 for the second straight season. The talent is there, the role is not. Seattle had one of the lowest RB target shares and gave nearly all the goal-line carries to Zach Charbonnet under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. As an NFL RB, Walker was great, but he needs a new scene to get back to being a fantasy RB1 like in 2024. At the end of the day, fantasy RBs win you games based on their receiving and red-zone work, not talent alone. He doesn’t need a bellcow role, just more valuable volume.
Best if they stay put
Javonte Williams, Cowboys
Javonte Williams landed in Dallas last offseason on a one-year, prove-it deal, as the once sought-after RB garnered next to nothing in free agency after his extreme knee injury in 2022. After finally looking healthy, Williams became the fantasy sleeper RB of the Year. If you only isolate his complete games in 2025, he would have ranked as the RB9 on 16.2 PPG this season. Jerry Jones wants his RB to return, and it would be the ideal scenario for Williams, who has bellcow volume on an elite offense, a rare combo.
Travis Etienne Jr., Jaguars
Similar to Williams, Etienne managers who drafted him in August took advantage of the doubted RB following a rough 2024 season. The Jaguars star finished as the overall RB3 in 2023, but was drafted as the ADP RB36 on Yahoo in 2025. Coaching can make an immense difference in fantasy football. The best example of that this season was Jacksonville’s new head coach Liam Coen. It’s hard to come by 13-TD seasons, making Etienne staying put the best decision to avoid another setback year.
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Rico Dowdle, Panthers
Although Rico Dowdle fizzled out to end the year, I believe his best scenario is sticking in Carolina. Dave Canales is a good coach for fantasy RBs and gave Dowdle underrated volume at the end of the season, even with Chuba Hubbard healthy. There were a couple of games where Hubbard was more involved, but overall, Dowdle ranked 12th in RB touch share once Hubbard returned, equalling 16.6 touches per game.
J.K. Dobbins, Broncos
After a full offseason of RJ Harvey hype, Denver trusted J.K. Dobbins by a significant margin over the rookie RB. In comparison to Harvey, Dobbins was 35% better in yards per carry this season behind the same (strong) offensive line. At 27 years old, off multiple severe injuries, it’s best for the veteran RB to stay in Denver than risk becoming fantasy irrelevant elsewhere.
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Kenneth Gainwell, Steelers
Any RB that has a breakout fantasy season shouldn’t desire to leave. If Aaron Rodgers returns, Gainwell’s receiving upside should stay in a backfield that was a true 50/50 with Jaylen Warren. Gainwell ranked sixth among RBs in targets per game behind only fantasy RB1s.
On Tuesday night, Cavs point guard Darius Garland put together his most impressive fourth quarter of the season: 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting, two assists and zero turnovers in a narrow 120-116 road win over Indiana.
It was a virtuoso showing for Garland. He used his off-ball speed to find gaps in Indiana’s aggressive defensive scheme and trusted his midrange bag time and time again. When the Pacers showed prevent, Garland stepped out and punished them from deep. Bigs Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen did well to create angles via screening, allowing Garland to handle the rest.
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“A great point guard,” Mobley told reporters after the game. “Controlled the pace. Took the easy ones. Played good basketball.”
The significance and timing of Garland’s late-game mastery — he led all players with 29 points — in a season when the veteran guard has struggled with both injury and efficiency, cannot be lost in translation. Yes, the Pacers (6-31) are the worst team in the NBA by a decent enough margin that impressive performances against them could come with caveats. But Cleveland, which was without its water, blood and oxygen supply (otherwise known as Donovan Mitchell) for this game, has been crying out for a change in fortunes.
Recent results — the Cavs have won four out of five after a lifeless late-December blowout loss in Houston — suggest an uptick in the vibes department, but two related questions remain: Can Cleveland, as currently constructed, find a way to contend in the East? And is the version of Garland we saw on Tuesday an illusion or a sign of things to come?
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Up to this point, as far as the specific question about Garland is concerned, the unfortunate reality is that the aforementioned performance feels like an aberration.
Watch a Cavs game and it doesn’t take long to identify the issue with the Garland-Mitchell pairing. Not necessarily from a height standpoint, although the historical success rate of smaller backcourts isn’t as robust as their larger counterparts. We’re still less than a year removed from Cleveland winning 64 games with the identical partnership. Sure, some moving parts are a factor — the departure of Ty Jerome, the delayed season debut of Max Strus — but Mitchell, by essentially every advanced metric, has gotten even better. So, what is it?
It’s a gravity/efficiency problem.
The absence of the likes of Jerome and Strus — and until Mobley takes another offensive step forward — puts the bulk of shot creation on Mitchell’s shoulders. In a perfect world, Garland would rank second in command in that aspect. But that hasn’t been the case. Opposing defenses react very differently to Mitchell probes and Garland forays.
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When contextualized within the scope of how Cleveland performs in lineups led by Garland or Mitchell, the gap is widened even further. Garland-led units sans Mitchell are scoring just 108.8 points per 100 possessions, a lower rate than the 30th-ranked Sacramento Kings. Flip the scenario, with Mitchell on and Garland off, and the Cavs perform at a top-five clip.
Their “core four” group — Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and Allen — is just their ninth-most frequent pairing, which screams lack of availability and consistency, but all roads lead back to Garland.
Garland’s meager 110.3 points per 100 shot attempts wedges him between Egor Denim, Bub Carrington, Ryan Nembhard and LaMelo Ball in terms of efficiency among point guards, according to Cleaning the Glass (46th percentile). That’s less-than-ideal company when your organization should be contending in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
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He’s still a high-level creator, part of the upper one-third class in assist rate, but the sliding scale between passes made and shots taken — compared to Mitchell — skews too far in one direction. According to Synergy tracking data, Mitchell’s shot-to-pass ratio on drives is 55% to 26%; Garland’s is 46% to 33%. When teams know you’re more likely to hunt an assist over a self-created bucket, manipulating coverage becomes easier. Garland’s turnover rate has jumped, his effective field-goal percentage has dropped by nearly 10% and, when factoring in his defensive shortcomings, his on/off splits are nothing to scoff at. (Garland has the sixth-worst differential among guards who have played at least 400 minutes this season, per Cleaning the Glass.)
Compared to last season, Garland’s shot profile hasn’t changed much if at all. But considering his quickness and burst have been his redeeming qualities and his 56% rim success rate has him in the bottom 20% of guards, it’s clear Garland is still battling through toe and back injuries stemming from the offseason.
“He’s coming off a tough injury,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said last month. “But to me he’s been a soldier. That’s tough to come back from, there’s ups and downs to it. He’s doing everything in his power to come back, but we knew this was going to take time. You don’t just snap your fingers. No offseason, no training camp — but we’re seeing flashes.”
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In a perfect world, Cleveland (just half a game ahead of eighth) would evaluate all of their options moving forward with the trade deadline less than a month away — including the prospect of trading Garland. But the Cavs, who are nearly $23 million over the second apron, are financially handicapped. In conversations around the league, Garland’s market — much like the entire point guard market — is muted. Cleveland cannot aggregate salaries in any trade, so any attempts at upgrading at the position are limited to players making comparable money; Tyrese Maxey (no chance), Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball.
With Strus edging closer to a return, perhaps the Cavs can dangle forward De’Andre Hunter (who has been relegated to the bench) on the open market and seek additional scoring upgrades. Or perhaps Garland can use Tuesday’s heroics as a launching pad for the rest of the season.
Mitchell alone cannot hold up what has been a disappointing campaign thus far, and until the gap between the two is shortened, the Cavs will continue to hover around mediocrity.
It’s the oldest and finest of playoff football traditions: firing up the grill, icing down a few beverages, staking out the best spot on the couch … and then flipping on Amazon Prime Video.
You already know the NFL is all-in on streaming, offering its Thursday regular-season games only on Prime Video. If you don’t want to pony up for Prime in a given week, well, there are another dozen-plus games waiting for you. But the league, aiming for a younger, more tech-savvy audience, has upped the ante in the last few years, putting precious playoff games on streaming services. Suddenly, the push to jump in the fast-moving streaming waters got a lot more urgent.
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Two years ago, the NFL debuted a streaming-only game with Dolphins-Chiefs on Peacock, gambling that NFL fans would want to sign up for the service to see Patrick Mahomes in action. Last year, the NFL put the always-grimy AFC North rivalry of Ravens-Steelers on Prime, a playoff matchup more notable for its legacy than its then-current incarnation.
(Trivia: We here at Yahoo Sports streamed the first online-only NFL game, a Bills-Jaguars tilt from Europe way back in 2015. It’s safe to say that this year’s Bills-Jags playoff game will probably outdraw that 9 a.m. ET midseason one.)
This year, the Saturday night Prime game of the wild-card round will be Packers-Bears, the league’s oldest rivalry — and yet has taken place only twice before in the playoffs despite more than 100 years of history. It’s a massive game, which begs the question: How did this season’s marquee wild-card game end up on Prime?
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Per the Chicago Sun-Times and Puck, it was a case of scheduling imperatives … and also, the league playing favorites. All five of the league’s broadcast partners — CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and Prime — wanted either 49ers-Eagles or Packers-Bears, the two marquee matchups of this weekend. The NFL likes to schedule its most compelling game in the late-Sunday afternoon slot, and opted to place 49ers-Eagles there on Fox.
The Bears and Packers have met 212 times in a rivalry that dates back to 1921, yet they’ve only faced each other twice before in the playoffs.
(Todd Rosenberg via Getty Images)
The league also prefers to place a 4-5 matchup — this year, Steelers-Texans or Rams-Panthers — in the Monday night playoff slot. Since Pittsburgh-Houston was the more interesting option (sorry, Panthers fans, but you know it’s true), the AFC got the nod there.
However, that set up another conundrum — if the NFL placed an AFC team on Saturday night, that would give the winner a potentially significant rest mismatch. So the AFC got the other two slots on Sunday, leaving the league with a choice between Rams-Panthers and Packers-Bears for the Saturday night Prime game. Since many of the league’s other broadcast partners had aired significant games over the final weeks of the regular season, and since the league likes to keep all its broadcast partners happy … Packers-Bears on Prime, baby!
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The NFL understands that it will take a short-term viewership hit every time it streams a game, but maybe a very short-term one: Dolphins-Chiefs in 2023 set a record for the most-streamed event in U.S. history with 23 million viewers. (Comparing streaming viewership numbers is often like comparing apples and bulldogs, but the 2024 Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight on Netflix now appears to hold the crown with 38 million.) Steelers-Ravens in 2024 claimed an average audience of more than 22 million, well in excess of pretty much every other sporting event except other NFL (and occasional college) games.
So what does all this streaming emphasis mean for you, the dedicated NFL viewer? Well, more charges for more streaming services, but you already knew that. The inexorable march of streaming continues, and the NFL has clearly shown an interest in decentralizing its product across multiple networks and services.
Now that there’s no objective difference in game play, stream quality or, once the game starts, user experience between a “broadcast” game and a streaming one on most TVs, all that remains is for the NFL to normalize accessing a streaming service as easily as a broadcast one. And the best way to normalize it is by placing some of the league’s most significant assets — i.e. all-or-nothing playoff games — on those streaming services.
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By next year, this will all be normal, and we won’t even need to write one of these “why the NFL is going all-in on streaming” columns. Whether that’s good news to you or bad news probably depends on whether you can remember the 1990s … or your Prime password. For now, though, take heart — the later rounds of the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl will remain on easily accessible, free broadcast TV.
