New Orleans Pelicans DVOA, Stats, & NBA Rankings

Toronto Raptors guard/forward Bruce Brown moved to Canada just a couple of weeks ago in exchange for Pascal Siakam and others. Ever since that deal was made official, there have been reports and rumors that this wouldn't be his final move this season. Playoff contending teams have been linked to Brown, most notably the New York Knicks. According to Mark Sanchez of the New York Post, Brown was thinking of signing with the Knicks before he accepted the offer from the Indiana Pacers in the offseason. He even said during an interview that his playstyle and effort align with how Tom Thibodeau runs his team. There haven't been any official offers yet, but this move seems to be gaining the most steam.

Toronto Raptors guard Bruce Brown (knee) as well as Jordan Nwora and Kira Lewis Jr. are all cleared and available to make their team debuts on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls. There was some uncertainty surrounding the game statuses of the Raptors' newcomers following Wednesday's Pascal Siakam trade, especially since Brown was dealing with a knee injury. Though Nwora and Lewis are DNP-CD candidates in their first night north of the border, Brown should occupy a prominent role in Toronto's rotation whether he starts straight from the get-go or not. It still renders Brown a risky DFS play on Thursday, but season-long managers can get him active. The 27-year-old Swiss Army knife is assembling a career year with averages of 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 three-pointers, and 1.1 steals in 29.7 minutes over 33 starts with the Indiana Pacers this season.

The Toronto Raptors are acquiring guard Bruce Brown (knee) and Jordan Nwora as well as two 2024 first-round picks and a 2026 first-rounder from the Indiana Pacers in a swap for star forward Pascal Siakam. After letting Fred VanVleet walk away this past offseason and shipping out OG Anunoby earlier in January, the Raptors continue to break up their 2018-19 championship core and move toward a transitional phase. A key component of the Denver Nuggets' 2022-23 title push, Brown is enjoying a career season on averages of 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 threes, and 1.1 steals in 29.7 minutes through 33 starts this year after netting a sizable two-year contract with Indiana. The position-less 27-year-old shifts from the NBA's top offense to a more pedestrian one in Toronto, but Brown should get plenty of run as well as some extra usage to compensate for any potential decline in efficiency.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (quad) will only need to miss one game for a quad contusion after he was listed as probable for the team's game on Monday against the Dallas Mavericks. He missed their last game against the Mavericks on Saturday and the Pelicans still put up a 10-point win. Now, Williamson returns along with Trey Murphy III (knee), CJ McCollum (ankle), and Brandon Ingram (Achilles). Williamson's averages are down across the board so far this season, but he's been showing flashes of returning to the level that everyone once expected. The biggest plus for him this year is that he's been healthier than in recent seasons.

New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (ankle) and Trey Murphy III (knee) have both been tagged as probable to play against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. Both play big roles in the team's offensive success on both the starting and reserve units. McCollum and Murphy were forced to miss their last game against the Mavericks on Saturday and the team still managed to pull out a 10-point win. Now, the entire starting five is expected to play with Murphy leading the bench squad against a depleted Mavericks team that will likely be without Luka Doncic (ankle). Both McCollum and Murphy are startable players in all fantasy formats and league sizes right now.