The NBA Atlantic Division has had some major volatility over the last few days. On the positive side, the Raptors got Pascal Siakam back from shoulder injury and he made his season debut with a solid effort of 15 points in 25 minutes to suggest that he'll get up to speed quickly. On the unfortunate side, though, both the 76ers and the Celtics have lost core players to illness and injury.
In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid joins Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe in the NBA health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19. With the continued absence of Ben Simmons and Danny Green battling a nagging hamstring injury, the 76ers could be extremely short-handed for some or most of the next week or two. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown is expected to miss 1-to-2 weeks with a strained right hamstring.
76ers lineup options
From a fantasy basketball perspective, this provides Andre Drummond the minutes to have a throwback session as the center and focal point of the team. When Drummond was with the Pistons, just over a calendar year ago, he was routinely one of the top 10-20 producers in points-based fantasy basketball with nightly 20 point-20 rebound potential. He could be in for a monster couple weeks. In addition, Tyrese Maxey becomes the clear offensive engine as the primary healthy scorer/distributor on the roster. Shake Milton should also be relied upon more heavily as the secondary playmaker scorer, even if he continues in a sixth man role, while Furkan Korkmaz could increase his volume as a shooter/scorer into impact range.
Celtics lineup options
The Celtics are largely healthy outside of Brown, so his missing shots will largely be absorbed by Jayson Tatum and the other perimeter scorers on the team. Dennis Schroder, in particular, has proven near-20 PPG scoring ability, and the team could ask him to step up in the short term. Josh Richardson and even Marcus Smart could also get a few extra shots, which would round out and improve Smart's all-around value to solid flex level and perhaps move Richardson up enough to get on the short term streamer list.
Thankfully, none of these absences are expected to be long-term. One other note of interest, though, is that the Celtics are reportedly interested in trading for Simmons and the early reporting is that the 76ers' asking price includes Brown. With both players included among the many on the sidelines for both teams, this would seem to be a potential negotiating window to see if this type of deal has any legs.