Sorare NBA | Game Week 36 Primer

Welcome to the Sorare NBA Game Week 36 Primer!

The next round of action kicks off today, and we're here to break down all the relevant information for the upcoming slate. Lineups lock at 6:50 p.m. EST — with the upcoming contests running Thursday-Sunday.

The week off from hoops felt too long, so I’m excited to get back in the swing of things for the home stretch of the NBA season! Some important changes to note for this GW, particularly for the free competition tier.

• Garage Hoops replaces Beginner, only for Managers in their first Game Week

• Rec League replaces Beginner 2, commons only — features Limited and Common rewards, and users who score in the Top 15% graduate to the next tier.

• Limited Tip-Off replaces Common Champion — for users that own fewer than five Limited cards, and can use a mix of Common and Limited.

• Pickup is a new format replacing Common Contender, where anyone can play at any time.

Full details are available in the Sorare blog.

Let’s get into all the action for this weekend of hoops:

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Game Week Rewind ⏮

The All-Star Weekend festivities were a bit of a disappointment, with viewership down significantly and some expected lack of competitiveness leaving many questioning the point of this whole thing (answer: $$$).

One event that wasn’t a disappointment? The Dunk Contest — with barely in-the-league guard Mac McClung absolutely dazzling with some awesome throwdowns and stealing the spotlight for the weekend.

In terms of the Sorare All-Star competitions, the winners of each event were keys to the Saturday contests, with McClung, the Utah Jazz trio from the Skills Competition (Walker Kessler, Colin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson), and Three-Point Contest winner Damian Lillard leading the way.

From the actual game itself, Jayson Tatum’s 55 points and 12 rebounds (85 Sorare Points) led the slate, followed by Donovan Mitchell (74) and Jaylen Brown (69).

Multi-Game Monitor 🗓

📈 3 Games: Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors

Injury & Roster Info 🏥

• Jaylen Brown (face) played in the All-Star Game and will return to the lineup with a protective mask.

• Stephen Curry is making “good progress” in his rehab but will be re-assessed next Wednesday, meaning he is out at least the first four games post-ASB for the Warriors.

• Kevin Durant is expected to make his debut for the Phoenix Suns on March 1. The star forward has been out since Jan. 8 with an MCL sprain.

• A few buy-out notes:

  • Patrick Beverley signed with the Chicago Bulls after agreeing to a buy-out with the Orlando Magic, and should make his debut this weekend. The Bulls also shut down Lonzo Ball for the season officially, after the guard has missed the entire season in recovery from knee issues.

  • Russell Westbrook signed with the Los Angeles Clippers and is expected to play on Friday.

  • Will Barton was bought out by the Washington Wizards earlier this week, and is still without a team heading into this weekend’s action.

  • Kevin Love signed with the Miami Heat and is expected to play on Friday.

The information below is as of Thursday, Feb. 23, but can give broader insights for the rest of the Game Week.

Ruled Out  ❌

• Jalen Green, HOU (groin), Kevin Porter Jr., HOU (foot) Collin Sexton, UTA (hamstring), Andre Iguodala, GSW (hip), Andrew Wiggins, GSW (personal), Romeo Langford, SAS (adductor), Isaiah Roby, SAS (ankle), Luke Kennard, MEM (illness), Zeke Nnaji, DEN (shoulder), Ricky Rubio, CLE (injury management), Aaron Gordon, DEN (rib)

Doubtful 🤕

• Marvin Bagley, DET (finger), Tre Jones, SAS (foot)

Questionable ❓

• Bradley Beal, WAS (knee), Jeremy Sochan, SAS (quad)

As injury information is breaking at all hours prior to lineups locking, an excellent resource for up-to-date news is the Underdog NBA Twitter account.

Value Plays 🤑

Last Game Week's Value Pick Performances:

Player | L10 | GW 34 Performance 

• Devonte Graham, 14 L10, 31 Sorare Points (+17) 🔥

• Zach Collins, 20 L10, 38 Sorare Points (+18) 🔥

• Mark Williams, 20 L10, 35 Sorare Points (+15) 🔥

• Collin Sexton, 19 L10, 30 Sorare Points (+11) 🔥

• Talen Horton-Tucker, 15 L10, 36 Sorare Points (+21) 🔥🔥

• Grant Williams, 15 L10, 26 Sorare Points (+11) 🔥

• Jabari Smith Jr., 21 L10, 39 Sorare Points (+18) 🔥

• Gabe Vincent, 17 L10, 32 Sorare Points (+15) 🔥

We had some heat heading into the All-Star Break, let’s see if we can keep the flames alive after a week off!

Game Week 36 Value Picks:

*Note — these selections are based purely on L10 value in lineups — and do not consider the auction or market prices of the players listed.

Talen Horton-Tucker | 20 L10 — Coming off a stellar five-game stretch of performances prior to the ASB, THT has carved out a nice role for himself with the Jazz. With 25+ Sorare Points in four of the last five, Horton-Tucker could be in for even more usage with Collin Sexton (hamstring) out for at least the next few games. The versatile forward can rack up stats across the categories, including a surprisingly high amount of assists out of his position. With an uptick in minutes and a team ready to continue riding young talent, THT is still a good bargain at his 20 L10.

Also Consider: Jordan Clarkson (28 L10), Ochai Agbaji (10 L10), Kelly Olynyk (26 L10)

Matisse Thybulle | 15 L10, Shaedon Sharpe | 19 L10 and Cam Reddish | 16 L!0 — Blazers guard Anfernee Simons has no timetable to return from a Grade 2 ankle sprain suffered just before the All-Star Break, and Jusuf Nurkic (calf) remains out. This leaves a huge void in usage outside of Damian Lillard, opening up some significant value amongst the remaining guards.

Matisse Thybulle has flashed some upside since joining Portland last month, and put together a 38-point Sorare performance in his debut with the new squad just before the ASB. With his minutes hovering around 30 per game before the Simons injury, Thybulle should gain even more opportunity to produce now that Simons is out of the picture for the foreseeable future.

Another beneficiary is young highflyer Shaedon Sharpe, whose minutes have been on a steady uptick over the last few weeks. With 23, 33, 39 and 18 Sorare Points in his last four, Sharpe is a good bet to outproduce his 19 L10 with added touches. And if you haven’t been acquainted with Sharpe’s bounce, do yourself a favor and check out some of his highlights.

At a 16 L10, newcomer Cam Reddish also is in play — and is coming off a 28-point Sorare performance and 32 minutes of action, a good sign for his potential usage post-ASB.

Also Consider: Damian Lillard (53, ceiling potential), Jerami Grant (28 L10)

Bonus Picks:

• Jalen Suggs | 22 L10 — His performances fluctuate wildly, but over 35+ in two of his last three and seeing a steady 25 minutes a game.

• Devonte’ Graham | 21 L10 — Tre Jones remains out, and Jeremy Sochan is questionable — continuing to open the door for Graham to get shots up.

• Franz Wagner | 21 L10 — He hasn’t blown up in a while, but that cap feels low for a player with 50+ upside.

• James Wiseman | 13 L10 — I don’t think he’s particularly good, but with opportunity and a low cap he’s hard to fade at the price.

• Josh Christopher | 14 L10 and TyTy Washington | 11 L10 — No Kevin Porter Jr. or Jalen Green means endless usage openings for the remaining guards. Both should see 20+ minutes, which is always a nice value opportunity for low-cap players.

Live Before Lock 🔒

Got last-minute lineup questions? I'll be on Mike Zakarian / Team Hold's  Live Before Lock stream every Monday and Friday at 5:30 PM EST (Thursday instead of Friday this week due to the ASB), breaking down all the news, lineup questions and value plays right before the Game Week locks. Join us for some fun (and giveaways) tonight!

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