Brooklyn Nets DVOA, Stats, & NBA Rankings

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell is drawing interest from the Orlando Magic. The 28-year-old is coming off a quality season, averaging 18.0 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.1 rebounds. He also shot a career-high 41.5% from deep. He can earn nearly $19 million if he accepts his player option. But if Russell wants to test the market, the Magic could look to add some stability to their backcourt, something the team desperately needs. From a fantasy standpoint, he's expected to remain a reliable option no matter where he ends up, although injuries have sometimes overshadowed his play throughout his career.

Brooklyn Nets center Nicolas Claxton appears set to remain with the team. The 25-year-old is hitting unrestricted free agency this offseason, but sources have indicated to Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily that the team is "very confident" in its ability to re-sign Claxton. Nets general manager Sean Marks said a couple of weeks back that extending Claxton will be Brooklyn's "No. 1 priority" in the offseason. Claxton, who's reportedly set to fetch a contract with a yearly salary of around $25 million, was among the top shot-blockers in the league in 2023-24 with 2.1 swats and averaged a career-high 9.9 rebounds, along with 11.8 points in 29.8 minutes. The team seems to have big plans for him, and at 25 years old, Claxton should have plenty of room to develop.

Brooklyn Nets center Nicolas Claxton will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but if the team has its way, he won't be going anywhere soon. According to general manager Sean Marks, tying Claxton down will be the "No. 1 priority" for the team in the summer. Marks added that he hopes Claxton will be a Net for "a very long time." The comments came after Brooklyn's new head coach, Jordi Fernandez, said at his introductory press conference that he believes Claxton has the potential to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Claxton, the 31st pick of the 2019 draft, has just completed his fifth NBA season. He averaged 11.8 points with a career-high 9.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 29.8 minutes.

Philadelphia 76ers guard De'Anthony Melton (back) remains out for Monday's game against the Knicks. Melton battled a back injury for most of the 2023-24 campaign. He also wasn't available for the Play-In tournament or Game 1 of the series with New York on Saturday night. Head coach Nick Nurse hasn't closed the door on Melton returning at some point. However, there's a chance he won't be back until at least next season. Nonetheless, it appears Nurse will give the starting lineup more minutes they can handle, so Melton likely wouldn't have done much to benefit fantasy managers even if he were available.

Philadelphia 76ers guard De'Anthony Melton (back) has officially been ruled out for the first game of the first-round series against the New York Knicks. According to Derek Bodner of PHLY, head coach Nick Nurse said that Melton did not practice on Friday, but he hasn't been fully ruled out for this series. His two-way abilities would be welcomed back on the court, especially within Nurse's system, but Melton's back issues have caused him to miss a lot of time this year. If he does return at some point in this series, he'll likely have a very tight minutes restriction which would limit his upside in DFS rosters.