NBA Fantasy: Salary Cap Edition Week 7 Preview and Picks

The Emirates NBA Cup 2024 Group Play is reaching its exciting climax as teams battle it out for a spot in the knockout stages.

Fantasy intrigue comes with the fight for remaining spots in the quarterfinals, and that’s only part of the reason

NBA Fantasy salary game

players should be invested in this week’s coming slate of contests.

Here’s what you need to know for Week 7:

Last week’s story

East Group C delivered the stunner of Group Play, with the Atlanta Hawks (10-11) defeating both the Cleveland Cavaliers (18-3) and Boston Celtics (16-4) to clinch their spot in the quarterfinals. That leaves the Cavaliers out of contention at 1-2 and the Celtics – at 3-1 – needing help from multiple other teams just to advance as a wild card.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (15-5) enters Week 7 as the best team in the west, so far backing up preseason discussion as the conference favorite to reach the 2025 NBA Finals. But they may also miss out on advancing in the NBA Cup if the San Antonio Spurs (10-9) win Tuesday, as they’d need to defeat the Utah Jazz (4-16) that night while boosting their point differential to claim the wild card.

Such scenarios are a testament to the nature of a condensed tournament format. Only one of the four semifinalists in last year’s NBA Cup went on to reach the 2024 NBA conference finals, and the eventual NBA champion didn’t even escape the cup quarterfinals.

Games to watch

More than two quarterfinal berths are still up for grabs, but there are a pair of eye-popping Group Play matchups with large implications looming.

Orlando Magic (15-7) vs. New York Knicks (12-8), Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT)

The winner of this East Group A matchup between the conference’s No. 3 and No. 4 seeds secures a spot in the NBA Cup Knockout Rounds. Only one other of the final Group Play games carries that same distinction, with the Detroit Pistons (9-13) and Milwaukee Bucks (10-9) also each 3-0 over in East Group B.

Orlando has been borderline unstoppable since early November, rattling off 12 victories across its last 13 contests without star forward

Paolo Banchero

. Lockdown defense has been crucial for the Magic to the tune of a No. 3 defensive rating, while they continue to slowly dictate with a pace that ranks No. 26.

That fruitful formula will be tested by a Knicks offense that stands No. 1 in the league – the kind of number that’s paved the way for seven wins in their last nine.

San Antonio Spurs (10-9) vs. Phoenix Suns (11-8), Tuesday  (9 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass)

The Spurs would have been picked by few to top a West Group B featuring the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers (12-8), Thunder and Suns. Having earned the right to control their own destiny, though, that’s precisely what they can do with a triumphant Tuesday.

This pair of middling Western Conference foes are neck-and-neck in net rating, with San Antonio at 16th and Phoenix right on its tail at 17th. A pass-happy offense producing the NBA’s highest assist ratio – combined with more seasoned two-way play from

Victor Wembanyama

– has been front and center for the Spurs.

But both

Kevin Durant

and

Bradley Beal

should be available for Phoenix. They’ve shared the court nine times this season because of injuries, and it’s been a luxurious rarity, producing seven wins.

Injury report

Last week’s biggest loss was to Hornets guard

LaMelo Ball

, who suffered a left calf strain on Nov. 27 and will be reevaluated on Dec. 11, but is projected to be out until at least Dec. 19. Ball had been on a tear in the time prior, tallying 40-plus fantasy points in 10 of his previous 11 games in addition to five outings with 50 or more in that span.

Nagging injuries continue to keep 76ers center

Joel Embiid

and Pistons guard

Cade Cunningham

off the court. Embiid has dealt with swelling in his surgically repaired knee – out since Nov. 20 after playing his first game this season on Nov. 12 – but could return as early as Tuesday. Cunningham suffered a hip injury on Nov. 21 and has missed four of five games since, but remains day-to-day, and could also return Tuesday at the earliest.

Transaction tips

Two big men have been ever-reliable, and they come at a slight discount for the production they pitch in: 

Karl-Anthony Towns

– second in the NBA with 16 double-doubles on the campaign – has notched one in each of the Knicks’ last eight contests via his scoring and rebounding efforts. That’s translated to 42-plus fantasy points each time, and consequently, he’s moved up to 10th in total fantasy points (TFP) with 875.1 in all.

With a price tag of $14.2M, and having only missed one game while scoring less than 40 fantasy points on just three occasions, Towns is a trusty investment comparable to

Domantas Sabonis

(826.4 TFP) and Wembanyama (819.0 TFP), who cost $16.9M and $17M, respectively.

Nikola Vučević

has also been a front-court force for fantasy owners. He’s played in all 21 games for the Chicago Bulls (8-13) and has logged eight fantasy performances with 40 points or more – four of which have come in his last seven games. He’s fresh off a season-high 32 points against the Celtics.

Don’t expect the kind of stellar showings from Vučević that top-tier centers

Anthony Davis

and

Nikola Jokić

are known for. This $14M expenditure, though, will get you the reliability of someone sitting 15th in TFP and who – only once – has fallen short of 30 fantasy points.

Weekly advice

It’s a good time to capitalize on superstars playing against the league’s worst defenses. If you’ve rostered such players in fantasy, then they should be your prime picks for the captain’s chip.

Look to

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

on Tuesday when the Thunder play the Jazz (8 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass). He’s been one of the salary game’s wire-to-wire top-five options, and might just be on the best scoring spree in the NBA right now, stringing together seven consecutive 50-plus fantasy point outings that feature six showings with at least 30 points scored.

Utah possesses the third-worst defensive rating in the league and has lost eight of its last nine while surrendering 120 points or more five times over. That sets the stage for Gilgeous-Alexander to shred the Jazz – a performance that could very well earn you upwards of 100 fantasy points if he’s your captain.

Jokić should also be a chip favorite when the Denver Nuggets (10-8) face the Washington Wizards (2-16) on Saturday. He’s accumulated 11 games with 60-plus fantasy points alongside eight triple-doubles so far this season, comfortably averaging the most fantasy points per game of any player at 64.7.

The Wizards went winless in November and entered December on a 14-game losing streak accordingly. Their defensive rating is dead last in the NBA, and in their lowly state, a mind-boggling outing from Jokić is more than likely.