NBA Fantasy – Salary Cap Edition: Week 6 preview

Maybe you’re delighted by your fantasy results. Maybe you’re horrified by the lack thereof.
Regardless, there’s plenty of basketball for NBA Fantasy Salary Game players to be thankful for this holiday week, and multiple moves to be made that can put you in a winning position.
Here’s what you need to know for Week 6:
Losing a star player long-term spells trouble for the team. And when there’s little offensive firepower to replace that missing production, trouble can quickly devolve into disaster.
Paolo Banchero’s injury-spurred exit, though, hasn’t brought about such a fate to the Orlando Magic (11-7).
There’s been a staggering resurgence without the 2022-23 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. After losing five games in a row from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6 – with Banchero diagnosed with a right torn oblique on Oct. 31 – the Magic have since won eight of nine, including six in a row in the immediate wake of that rough patch.
Franz Wagner’s emergence has been front and center in the turnaround. The fourth-year forward has scored 30 or more points in five of Orlando’s last seven contests, and through five straight, has now tallied at least five rebounds and assists apiece. Wagner has thrived in fantasy accordingly, averaging 53.9 fantasy points per game (FPPG) across the last seven games.
Rousing success in an elevated role has shot him into the upper echelons of the fantasy rankings, now standing 10th in total fantasy points (TFP) with a tally of 764.8 that outdoes both LeBron James and Trae Young – among others – despite a comparable amount of playing time. Wagner presents terrific reliability for $13.1M, but with Banchero projected to return in mid-December, there’s uncertainty as to how long that will last.
For the first time this season, the top two teams in each conference will duke it out in the same week, offering a cornucopia of entertainment.
Oklahoma City Thunder (12-4) vs. Golden State Warriors (12-4), Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET:
These two teams last met Nov. 10 – a contest the Warriors claimed 127-116 – and the race at the top of the Western Conference standings has been neck-and-neck between them ever since. 
As a trendy pick to reach the 2025 NBA Finals, the Thunder were expected to be here, but success despite extended absences from Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein has been impressive. Oklahoma City has excelled amid a newer small-ball approach, boasting the best defensive rating in the NBA, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is comfortably entrenched as one of the league’s best fantasy options with a sixth-best 804.9 TFP.
Golden State’s campaign has benefitted from the typically strong contributions of Stephen Curry (41.3 FPPG) and Draymond Green (28.6 FPPG), but a much-improved defense has paved the path for a start that has been absent of 2023-24’s ups and downs. Last year’s 15th-place defensive rating has given way to fourth, and ball movement has been terrific, with the Warriors owning the NBA’s second-best assist ratio.
Boston Celtics (14-3) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (17-1), Sunday at 6 p.m. ET:
Little time has passed since the first iteration of this gargantuan matchup on Nov. 19 – a one-possession outcome that didn’t disappoint, closing the book on the Cavaliers’ undefeated run.
Cleveland is still the only team with three players in the TFP top 30, featuring Jarrett Allen (651.3), Donovan Mitchell (647.5) and Evan Mobley (631.4), while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s 50.6 FPPG (6th) and 42.0 FPPG (25th), respectively, continue to be crucial for fantasy owners. Both squads carry offensive and defensive ratings that qualify in the NBA’s top 10.
As a prolific scorer-rebounder, Allen has been a double-double machine, currently on a stretch of six straight and totaling 13 to tie for second-most in the league. Brown, meanwhile, notched his eighth game in 13 outings with 40-plus fantasy points by swishing five 3-pointers in the first four minutes Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8-8).
Luka Dončić suffered a right wrist strain Nov. 21 and will be re-evaluated Thursday, meaning he’ll return no earlier than Saturday since the Dallas Mavericks (9-8) are inactive Friday. The seventh-year forward/guard averages an NBA fifth-best 51.2 FPPG, but even with this being his first extended absence all season, Dallas has struggled to stay in the win column.
Elsewhere in the west, the Phoenix Suns (9-7) could be getting a major boost with the projected returns of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal against the Los Angeles Lakers (10-6) on Tuesday. Both have dealt with calf injuries, and their return couldn’t come at a more opportune time for a Suns team that has badly missed them during a five-game losing streak.
Jakob Poeltl – a ninth-year center – is well on his way to the best season of his career, averaging 16.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest with the Toronto Raptors (4-13). He’s racked up five consecutive double-doubles, beginning with a three-game outbreak from Nov. 15 to 18 during which he accumulated 90 points and 45 rebounds.
Carrying a mark of 681.8 TFP in 17 games played, Poeltl has produced better than 26 other players in the top 60 possessing higher salaries. He costs just $12M for what he provides, and that gives him serious value.
At the forefront of the rookie of the year conversation has been Jared McCain, and for good reason. He’s taken advantage of extra looks amid a slew of injuries to the Philadelphia 76ers (3-13) by scoring double figures in nine straight contests – seven with at least 20.
Any investment in McCain should be short-term, since his minutes will decline with the return of Joel Embiid and Paul George, but he offers terrific near-future value at just $5.1M.
If you’re going to keep two players from the same team on your roster, bank on the New York Knicks (9-7). Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson are the highest-output options, but Josh Hart is a more affordable alternative.
The Knicks play four games this week and it’s also who they’re playing that matters. The Denver Nuggets (9-6), Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets (6-10) and New Orleans Pelicans (4-13) are on deck, in that order.
New York is No. 2 in the NBA in offensive rating, and among those four pending opponents, only the Mavericks possess a top-10 defensive rating. Offense has been the strong suit for the Knicks all season – regardless of what their record suggests.
And with the team having won four of their last five, there’s a real possibility of a fantasy feast in Week 6.
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