Week 2: Nine teams play four, Phoenix plays two

The schedule

Nine teams get four games this week: Minnesota, Charlotte, Boston, Indiana, Houston, Golden State, the Lakers, Cleveland and Atlanta. League average is 3.3, so a four-game team is giving you roughly 21 percent more volume than the field, and that is before you touch the waiver wire. Phoenix is the only two-game team on the board.

The names riding the heavy weeks are a who's who: Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves on the Lakers, Paul George in Boston, Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels in Atlanta, Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana, Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland, Amen Thompson in Houston and Anthony Edwards in Minnesota. Dončić has started 3-0 and dropped 52 at Utah on October 25. Mitchell has played 35 minutes in each of Cleveland's first two games, scoring 32 and 22.

Phoenix is the week's problem. Devin Booker is the top-ranked player in the pool and he is still the top-ranked player in the pool, but for these seven days he gets two games. That is a weekly comparison, not a season one: do not drop Booker, do not trade him for a four-game No. 30. Just know that in a head-to-head week he is going to be outcounted by players who are not close to him over 82 games. Luke Kennard, the other Suns name of fantasy relevance, is a two-game bench shooter who just returned from a minor knee concern and played 18 minutes Saturday. Leave him alone this week.

One caution on Haliburton. He is back from a torn Achilles that cost him all of last season, and a Rotowire note said it would not be surprising if Indiana manages his workload early, especially in back-to-backs. That is a note, not a club statement. No rest plan has been confirmed.

Streams for the week

The top of the stream board is Lakers wings, which tells you how much four games plus Dončić's gravity is worth. Matisse Thybulle grades out highest for the week, with the caveat that his role is genuinely unsettled: reporting ranges from secondary rotation to mid-20s minutes to starter, and Redick has said he might use six or seven wings in a game. Ziaire Williams is the cleaner bet of the two on evidence. He started both of the Lakers' first two games and played 24 and 31 minutes, 9 points against Golden State and 14 on 5-of-7 against the Clippers. Quentin Grimes is the third Laker here: about 30 and 27 minutes in the two games I can confirm, 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, and he closed Friday's game even after coming off the bench.

De'Anthony Melton is Golden State's top bench guard behind Stephen Curry and Brandin Podziemski, and the argument against him is shooting, not role. He hit 29.4 percent from three last season and was cold in preseason. Four games covers a lot of cold. Graham Ike is the speculative Warrior: rookie two-way big, started October 23 and 24, 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17.0 minutes across three games. Both NBC Sports and Yahoo tie that role to Kristaps Porzingis being unavailable, so he is a this-week play, not a hold.

Jonathan Kuminga is Minnesota's projected starting power forward, with SI's rotation projection putting him in the mid-20s in minutes and flagging that he may not close every night. Finch has asked him to rebound, run and defend wings. Jay Huff is the most actionable name on this list: Ivica Zubac sprained his left ankle on October 25, Huff started the second half, and Carlisle said afterward that Zubac is unlikely to play Monday against Milwaukee. Obi Toppin is the competition for those minutes.

Rounding out: Ryan Kalkbrenner on a four-game Charlotte week, though Naz Reid and Hannes Steinbach have crowded the frontcourt and Charles Lee is expected to mix and match by matchup. CJ McCollum is the expected Atlanta starter, with Lu Dort the only real threat to the spot. Corey Kispert is strictly a deep-league dart: he was a coach's-decision DNP on October 22 and got nine minutes in the Charlotte blowout.

Adds for good

Aaron Wiggins is the best combination of production and schedule on the most-added list: four games with Atlanta and 17.0 points on 58.1 percent shooting through three, all off the bench. The bear case is honest, Dort is currently out and the rotation is crowded, but you add him now and decide in two weeks. Obi Toppin is the other four-game add, 25 minutes in each of his first two with 20 and 13 points, used as a small-ball center while Huff sat.

Paul Reed is the add with the clearest cause. Jalen Duren has a confirmed right hamstring strain with a two-week re-evaluation timeline, and Reed went for 19 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists on 8-of-11 in 26 minutes at Miami on October 23. Trevon Brazile is a 35th-overall rookie averaging 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds through two games in Denver, filling in while Cameron Johnson and Spencer Jones are out and Julian Strawther is sidelined until sometime in December.

Alex Caruso is averaging about 22 minutes through two games, up from his prior Thunder-season high of 19.3, with Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort gone from the roster. Whether that holds is the split: OKC has limited his minutes in the past two seasons to protect his health. Jaxson Hayes started the Memphis opener with six blocks in 26 minutes, then came off the bench for 26 against New Orleans. Six blocks is a category week by itself. Precious Achiuwa started Sunday at power forward next to Domantas Sabonis after two bench games, but the wire added an ankle injury and I have found no practice report or coach's update dated after it. Hold off.

Injuries that matter

Paolo Banchero is the big one: confirmed right high-ankle sprain, four to six weeks, expected return November 22. He is not an active roster piece. Yves Missi has a left knee bone bruise with no official timetable despite a platform listing of November 2, and the report says he misses significant time. Kawhi Leonard was a late scratch with left knee swelling and is listed out with an expected return of October 28. Bench him until that is confirmed.

Jalen Duren's right hamstring strain is the one with real downstream value, roughly two weeks with a re-evaluation around November 9. Reed, Collins and Smith all benefit. Ivica Zubac's ankle, covered above, is the other that moves a waiver claim.

The short ones: Cooper Flagg is questionable with a mild left shoulder sprain for Monday's 7:30 ET tip, so check the final call. Joel Embiid is out the back end of a back-to-back for plantar fasciitis management with a stated return of October 28. Zach Edey is sitting one game for ankle management. VJ Edgecombe has an abdominal contusion and is listed to return October 28. Charles Bassey is probable with right patellar tendinopathy and is expected to play Monday. Naji Marshall is out Monday against Miami with an illness and no return date has been reported.