Dr. A Recaps the Weekend in Fantasy Basketball: Davis Goes Down, Booker Goes Off + More Notes and Takeaways

Welcome to my first column for RotoWire after a 20-plus career year at Rotoworld and NBC Sports. I'm thrilled to be here and look forward to sharing my fantasy hoops thoughts with you a couple times a week going forward!

Here's what you might have missed while you were holiday shopping, watching the World Cup or watching football this weekend. 

AD set to miss several weeks

The news of the week broke on Sunday morning when it was announced that Anthony Davis will miss at least a month for the Lakers with a mysterious right foot injury. All that talk about him playing in 82 games this season is now a distant memory and most of us knew that something like today's tough news was ultimately a much more realistic scenario.

Fantasy managers simply cannot drop AD and will hopefully be able to place him into an IR slot. Trading him is also a possibility but, obviously, he's not going to bring back as much while he's on the early end of his recovery timetable.

As for what it means for the Lakers, LeBron James is going to have to carry the team on his back while guys like Russell Westbrook will also be looking at an increased offensive role. But the big winner appears to be former Indiana University standout, Thomas Bryant, who will attempt to fill the big shoes of Davis. Bryant hit 9-of-11 shots for a season-high 21 points, six rebounds, two steals and a three-pointer in 24 minutes on Friday after Davis left early with the injury. He's scored in double figures in four other games this season, started on Sunday and should be ready to blow up.

The only problem is that Bryant has already been grabbed in most leagues so fantasy managers will have to get lucky to find him floating around on waivers. If you were savvy enough to grab him on Friday night the move should pay off nicely. The other concern here is that the Lakers are 12-16 on the season and if they fall too far out of the playoff hunt, shutdowns and limited playing time could become a concern for the 37-year-old James and 34-year-old Westbrook. 

Booker puts up 58, KD still running hot

Devin Booker lit up the scoreboard on Saturday night by hitting 21-of-35 shots and six triples for a season-high 58 points, six rebounds and five assists. He struggled from the line in that one, hitting just 10-of-15 shots, but who cares? He's still at nearly 76 percent for the season, which is easily the lowest percentage of his career. In fact, he's never shot lower than 83.2 percent for a season so there's a chance he shoots it much better the rest of the way.

The Suns are just 1.5 games back in the West and I'm a little surprised there hasn't been more MVP chatter around Booker. But he's currently sitting at 20/1 to win the award, per RotoWire's 2022-230 NBA MVP Odds board, trailing only Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. 

Interestingly, Zion Williamson sits right behind Booker at 22/1 and I like both of their chances, especially at those odds. Both of their teams are good enough for them to win the award. 

Kevin Durant went nuclear on Sunday with 43 points and a full stat line on just 22 shots, logging his second-highest scoring game of the season as the Nets won their fifth straight game with Durant in the lineup. Durant is currently +3500 to win the Most Valuable Player award and is an intriguing bet given that the Nets are suddenly 19-12, sitting in fourth place in the East. 

Other news and notes

Charlotte's Gordon Hayward returned to action from his shoulder injury and played well on Sunday night. If he's sitting on your waiver wire, he's worth a look. Just be aware that he's had a very hard time staying healthy over the last several years.  

Aaron Nesmith scored a season-high 23 points with 10 rebounds, a steal and four triples on Sunday, hitting 9-of-12 shots for the Pacers. He scored 14 on Friday and has hit double digits in four of his last five games. He started over Jalen Smith and is probably worth a flier right now, although the Pacers only play twice in the upcoming week (along with the Nets, Clippers and Heat). That's going to make starting any players from those teams this week in head-to-head matchups very tricky. But Nesmith is at least worth a look right now.

Jordan Poole should be rostered everywhere now that Stephen Curry will be sidelined indefinitely with left shoulder injury for the Warriors. Unfortunately, he was already rostered in a ton of leagues and then went off for a career-high 43 points on Sunday. If you missed out on the Poole party, it's probably too late. 

Other injuries impacting fantasyland over the weekend include:

• Terry Rozier (hip), Naz Reid (neck) and Bradley Beal, who returned to action on Sunday after missing time with a hamstring injury.
• Beal should be put back into lineups immediately, while Rozier and Reid both left Sunday's games with their injuries.
• It doesn't appear that Rozier will return to Sunday's game (in progress) and Kelly Oubre and Theo Maledon will both benefit if he misses time. Oubre is already rostered almost everywhere, while Maledon is widely available given his poor production thus far. Just put him on your radar in case he steps up in Rozier's absence. 
• Reid, who has been playing well while filling in for Karl-Anthony Towns (calf) and Rudy Gobert (ankle), only lasted 12 minutes on Sunday and Nathan Knight played 26 minutes in his absence. 
• Knight finished with a season-high 16 points, two rebounds, three assists and a 3-pointer after going for 10 points and five boards in just 11 minutes on Friday. If you're in a deep league and Reid is going to miss time, Knight might be worth a look. The Wizards, Hornets and Wolves all play three times in the upcoming week. 

Toronto's Malachi Flynn is suddenly relevant after playing a season-high 37 minutes on Sunday and finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and two 3-pointers. He also scored 13 points in 28 minutes on Friday after playing six or fewer minutes in his previous five games. Gary Trent Jr. is dealing with a quad injury and Flynn is worth a look in fantasy or DFS for as long as Trent is out.

However, OG Anunoby should be back from his hip injury for the Raptors this week, which will probably rain all over Flynn's parade. Make sure both Anunoby and Trent are out if you're going to roll the dice on Flynn anywhere.

Milwaukee's Khris Middleton (right knee) is out on Monday so Jevon Carter should see plenty of opportunity against the Pelicans. He's worth a play in DFS and fantasy. This will be the second straight absence for Middleton.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (back) and Josh Giddey (illness) have been ruled out for Monday's game, and this could be the start of some serious tanking for the Thunder. Luguentz Dort and Isaiah Joe appear to be the big winners here, while Eugene Omoruyi and Aaron Wiggins are also worth keeping an eye on. Aleksej Pokusevski should also benefit in their absence. Joe is widely available in fantasy leagues and went off for 23 points, a steal and five three-pointers on Saturday. If you're in a deep league and need a warm body, Joe could be the answer. Especially if the Thunder finally go into full tank mode.

Luka Doncic is iffy for Monday with a right quad injury and Kemba Walker went nuts on Saturday in his absence with a season-high 32 points, five boards, seven assists, a block and four three-pointers. Any time Luka is going to miss a game, Walker will be a must-start player, along with Spencer Dinwiddie. But Walker is a luxury-hold in fantasy leagues right now, as Luka shouldn't miss much time. Walker hasn't done much this season when Luka is healthy, although we only have a two-game sample size. 

Dejounte Murray is questionable for the Hawks on Monday with his sprained ankle and appears to be ahead of schedule. Once he's back, Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trent Forrest all get a slight downgrade. John Collins (ankle) is also questionable against the Magic after missing eight games and if he's back, Forrest should all but disappear.

Enjoy the Christmas Day games and have a great week! It feels good to be back.

Follow Steve Alexander on Twitter @docktora