Stephon Castle

Castle (hip) has been ruled out for Friday's game against the Cavaliers, Paul Garcia of ProjectSpurs.com reports.

Since returning to action on November 26, Harper has reached double figures in four of five games, including each of the last four. With Stephon Castle (hip) out, the Spurs' perimeter rotation is less crowded, which has benefitted the rookie. Harper has been most beneficial in the points, assists and steals categories, so he's been relegated to deep-league status in redraft formats. But there is a lot to like about his skill set, and Harper has not reached his ceiling.

While Vassell's season-long fantasy value places him outside the top-100 in eight-cat formats, he has been close to a top-50 player over the past two weeks. De'Aaron Fox has been the biggest beneficiary of the absences of Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, but Vassell isn't far behind. And while injuries to key players are never a good thing, those absences may have given Vassell the boost he needed after a slow start to the season.

While Fox did not record any defensive stats and was responsible for seven turnovers, eight-cat managers will undoubtedly accept his stat line. The Spurs guard, whose two free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining gave his team the lead for good, recorded his second 20-point game of the season. With Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle sidelined, more of the offense runs through Fox, which raises his ceiling despite the turnover concerns.

There aren't as many minutes for Harper as there are for other lottery picks, but he was able to make the most of his time in this game. Since returning from a 10-game absence, Harper has averaged 12.5 points, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals in just 18 minutes per game. He'll continue to have his minutes managed for now, and when he returns to a full workload, he'll still have De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle ahead of him in the rotation. Harper is valuable asset in dynasty leagues, but his role may not be large enough for him to truly pop this season.