NBA Player News

Embiid (knee) has been cleared to play in Thursday's game against the Celtics.

Prior to the NBA All-Star break, Embiid didn't play in the loss to the Nets in Brooklyn. However, he will return to the floor when the final stretch of the 2024-25 campaign resumes Thursday against the defending NBA champions. The superstar big man has played well as of late, scoring 27 or more points in three of the last four games, including a 29-point triple-double in the Feb. 4 win against the Mavericks.

Tillman (knee) has been ruled out for Thursday's game against the 76ers, Taylor Snow of the Celtics' official site reports.

Tillman continues to deal with inflammation in his left knee, which will force him to miss a second straight game. However, the absence of the 25-year-old big man won't have much of an impact from a fantasy perspective, as he has rarely seen the floor for Boston this season, averaging 7.3 minutes per game.

Bagley (ankle) has been cleared to play Thursday against the Pacers, Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports.

Bagley will suit up for the first time since Dec. 23, after he had missed 21 straight games due to a right knee sprain before the Wizards traded him to the Grizzlies on Feb. 6. The Grizzlies had been listing Bagley's injury as a right ankle distal syndesmosis sprain since he joined the team, but the big man looks like he'll be good to go coming out of the All-Star break. Bagley isn't expected to be part of head coach Taylor Jenkins' rotation while Zach Edey, Brandon Clarke and Jaren Jackson are available to cover all the minutes at center.

The Mavericks are expected to sign Brown to a 10-day contract prior to Friday's game against the Pelicans, Shams Charania of ESPN reports.

The Mavericks are short on healthy centers with Anthony Davis (adductor), Daniel Gafford (knee), Dereck Lively (ankle) and Dwight Powell (hip) all sidelined, so the team will look to bring in Brown to bolster their depth at the position. Brown has been impressive in the G League this season, and the 7-foot-2 center has 159 career NBA games under his belt. He could end up filling a rotational role in the short term, making him someone to monitor in deeper formats for fantasy managers seeking help in the field-goal percentage and rebounds categories.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Wednesday that Robinson (ankle) has been cleared for 5-on-5 contact at practice, Ian Begley of SportsNet New York reports.

Robinson, who has yet to appear this season after undergoing left ankle surgery in the offseason, is trending in the right direction. Previous reports have indicated that a return to the court is likely to happen in early March, so it may not be much longer until the frontcourt in New York gets some reinforcements. During the 2023-24 season, Robinson averaged 5.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.

Chomche was diagnosed Wednesday with a partial proximal MCL tear in his right knee and will miss the remainder of the season, Michael Scotto of USA Today reports.

Per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, Chomche suffered the injury during his most recent appearance with the G League's Raptors 905 in a 130-116 loss to the Cleveland Charge last Thursday, when a teammate fell on his leg. Though his rookie season will come to an end, the Raptors are hopeful that Chomche can complete his rehab in advance of the Las Vegas Summer League in July. While playing under a two-way deal this season, the No. 57 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft appeared in just seven games for Toronto, averaging 0.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 4.6 minutes per contest.

Williams is listed as probable for Wednesday's game versus the Lakers due to return-to-play reconditioning.

Williams looks poised to make his first appearance for the Hornets since Feb. 3, after his status had been in limbo since Charlotte agreed to trade him to the Lakers on Feb. 6 before Los Angeles rescinded the deal two days later due to concerns about the center's physical. The Hornets opted to hold the 23-year-old big man out through the All-Star break, but he has since rejoined the team and will resume his career in Charlotte. Williams will presumably step back in as the club's starting center after he had averaged 19.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 blocks in 30.6 minutes over his 12 appearances dating back to the start of January.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said that Hayes (face) will be available for Wednesday's game against the Hornets, Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.

Hayes made an early exit in the Lakers' most recent game Feb. 12 against the Jazz due to a facial contusion, but he looks to be good to go after getting some extended rest during the All-Star break. The center had started in each of the Lakers' last seven games before the break, averaging 8.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals in 22.1 minutes per contest.

Coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday that Turner (neck) should be good to go for Thursday's game versus the Grizzlies, Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star reports.

Turner missed Indiana's previous three contests due to a cervical strain in his neck but is expected to return to action Thursday after recovering over the All-Star break. If Turner is officially deemed available, he should reclaim his starting spot from Thomas Bryant.

Williams returned to Charlotte over the All-Star break and is expected to resume playing with the Hornets in the aftermath of his rescinded trade to the Lakers, James Plowright of CLTure.org reports.

The Hornets agreed to trade Williams to the Lakers on Feb. 6, only for the Lakers to rescind the deal two days later when the club detected multiple concerns with the third-year center's medical record that resulted in him failing his physical. Though Shams Charania of ESPN reported Feb. 10 that the Hornets planned to get in contact with the league to dispute the Lakers' findings, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said over the weekend that Charlotte never filed a formal protest of the rescinded trade, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com. While reintegrating Williams may make for some awkwardness after the Hornets attempted to trade him away, the 22-year-old should step back in as Charlotte's starting center coming out of the All-Star break. As Plowright notes, the Lakers failed his physical because of long-term concerns about his health, not due to any current injury. If Williams is in fact back in action with the Hornets to begin the second half, he'll be playing against the team he was nearly traded to in the Lakers, as the two squads are set to play Wednesday in Los Angeles.