The Fantasy Basketball Cut List - Who to Drop or Hold After Week 11

Thunder Dan Palyo offers advice on which players to drop in fantasy basketball leagues as of January 8, 2025. He helps managers make those tough decisions on who to cut in order to add breakout players off the waiver wire.

As injuries continue to pile up across the league, managing a fantasy basketball roster has become increasingly more difficult this season, and tough decisions have to be made. Most leagues only allow two or three IL spots for injured players, so managers have to choose wisely as to which injured players they hold and which they cut loose for the waiver wire.

Holding onto injured or underperforming players is a little easier to do in the early part of the season, but as we cross the halfway point of the fantasy basketball season, our patience wears thin, and the pressure to win weekly matchups in head-to-head leagues only increases as the playoffs draw nearer.

This article identifies players who can be safely cut in standard 12-team leagues. If you're making cuts, then you are probably looking for players to add, so check out my weekly waiver wire article. Alright, let's roll up our sleeves and make those tough decisions—who are some of our cut candidates for this week?

Highly Rostered Players to Consider Cutting

All roster percentages are courtesy of Yahoo!

Bennedict Mathurin, SG/SF - Indiana Pacers (82%)

I usually try to feature at least one player who is very highly-rostered in leagues every week, and if you told me a month ago that I would be recommending a drop of Mathurin, I would have called you a liar.

Mathurin is the first of several injured players that we will focus on today. He's dealing with a thumb injury that his coach said will keep him out "a while." That's not a very helpful timeline for his return and could be anything from just one week to multiple weeks. With the Pacers mired in a 13-game losing streak and already drawing dead in terms of the playoffs, there's also probably not much of a sense of urgency to get him back out on the floor.

Let's not act like Mathurin was killing it out there lately, either. He had a huge start to the season with some big games, but then missed several weeks and hasn't been the same since he returned from that injury. Over the last month, he's been sitting outside the top 200 on Yahoo with averages of 13.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 37% shooting. His fantasy game is very limited, and when he's going good, it's usually just points, FT%, and rebounds, where he really excels. He's not a passer, and he doesn't offer much on defense either.

With a nebulous timeline for return and his recent performance slumping, I'm on board with cutting Mathurin. I don't think your team will miss him much, and the odds of him putting up those big numbers we saw earlier in the year are slim with the offense running through Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam first.

Keegan Murray, SF/PF - Sacramento Kings (41%)

Murray's rostership has already dropped about 5% since Tuesday, when the Kings announced that he'd miss at least three weeks with an injured ankle.

The Kings say Keegan Murray will be sidelined for at least three-to-four weeks by a left ankle sprain sustained Sunday against Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/WdFaf9xYRX

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 6, 2026

We waited til late November for Murray to debut this season, and the early returns were good as he took advantage of the injury to Domantas Sabonis to increase his scoring and rebounding output.

However, his numbers have fallen off since that torrid start. He was averaging just 14 points and five rebounds per game over the last month, with his 1.8 blocks per game (not likely sustainable), carrying his fantasy value.

The Kings are a disaster this season, and who knows what the trade deadline has in store for this roster? The timing of Murray's return could line up with the All-Star break, and the team may not be very motivated to bring him back until after the dust settles at the deadline. If you have the room to stash him, that's fine, but right now I am operating on the assumption that most teams already have their IL stuffed full, and Murray isn't the caliber of player who is deserving of one of those spots over a player like Jrue Holiday (more on him in a bit).

Lightly Rostered Players to Consider Cutting

Jerami Grant, SF/PF - Portland Trail Blazers (37%)

Yes, we are picking on injured guys today, and it's time to talk about Grant, a player I have yet to address in this column this season.

We haven't seen him on a basketball court since December 18th, as he's missed 11 straight games with Achilles tendonitis. The Blazers have offered only a few very vague updates on his progress, and we know that Achilles injuries tend to linger longer than many others.

Once again, I have to apply the "is this guy worth it" test here - and in terms of his fantasy value in 9-CAT leagues, I don't think Grant is. While he is averaging 20 points per game this season off the bench, he offers little else in terms of statistical production other than threes (just 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 combined blocks/steals).

You should know by now how I feel about "empty scorers" - they are expendable. Once upon a time, Grant used to rebound and block shots, but this version of Grant has been mainly a scorer, and that's simply not valuable enough to eat up a precious IL spot that could be used for another key player who is injured.

Brandin Podziemski, PG/SG - Golden State Warriors (31%)

I'll admit that I was intrigued by Podz and what he was able to do in his rookie season in 2023. But he really hasn't improved his game in any aspect since then and has failed to improve upon any of his numbers from his sophomore season this year. His stats are nearly identical to last year, and he fails to stand out in any one category.

He does enough in the counting stats to catch your eye, especially on nights when the Warriors rest Stephen Curry and/or Jimmy Butler III. But Podz still can't score the ball with any kind of consistency. He's outside of the top-200 over the last month, and it's hard to see a path to where he's a top-150 guy without a major injury to Curry.

I usually have a soft spot for the "jack of all trades, but master of none" types, but right now, Podz has been a net negative for fantasy rosters. You can cut him loose and not feel all that bad about it.

Others Who Can Safely Be Cut:

• Tobias Harris (26%)
• Saddiq Bey (26%)
• Herbert Jones (20%)
• Kelly Oubre Jr. (20%)
• Ryan Kalkbrenner (16%)
• Kyle Kuzma (16%)
• Klay Thompson (12%)

On the Hot Seat

You don't have to drop them yet, but these players are flirting with the list if they don't improve their performances soon.

Mark Williams, C - Phoenix Suns (89%)

The Suns' big man finally posted a respectable game last night against Memphis, scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 boards in 26 minutes. However, he had played fewer than 24 minutes in four straight games leading up to that one and is averaging just 21 minutes per game over the last month.

Mark Williams appreciation post 💪

A key 12 PTS & 12 REB tonight for his ninth double-double this season. pic.twitter.com/sjExYfCV3M

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 8, 2026

I don't have Williams on any rosters, but I understand how frustrating it must be to roster him. His fantasy game is good enough that he doesn't need big minutes to be productive, but he continues to underwhelm for the most part. Every so often, we get a glimpse of his upside with a monster double-double and some blocks, but he does it so inconsistently. Even that tweet from the team congratulating him on his ninth double-double is kind of funny, like this guy should AVERAGE A DOUBLE-DOUBLE with his size and talent, right?

At least he's managed to stay relatively healthy this season, appearing in 32 of the Suns' 37 games, and he missed one of those due to a suspension for fighting, not an injury. As long as he's healthy, I have a hard time cutting him, but I do think that he's been underperforming often enough that he's borderline droppable in leagues with 10 teams or fewer.

Donte DiVincenzo, PG/SG - Minnesota Timberwolves (44%)

I love DD as a real-life player, but his fantasy value has been trending down lately, and thus, he's become a borderline player in shallower leagues. He's still sitting at 13-4.5-4 on the year, with 2.9 threes and 1.3 steals providing his managers with some pretty solid value, thanks to his threes and steals alone. However, his recent performance has been worrisome.

Over the last two weeks, he has averaged just nine points per game on 34% shooting and has seen his minutes drop into the high 20s or low 30s. If you can stomach the poor FG%, he's still quite useful in roto leagues, and I'd be holding in 12-team leagues or larger. But in 10-team leagues or smaller, he's a marginal player when everyone in Minnesota is healthy.

Underperforming Players to Hold

Devin Vassell, SG/SF - San Antonio Spurs (83%)

Vassell missed his fifth game in a row last night as the Spurs toppled the Lakers, and I hear the cries to drop him growing louder from the masses. However, I think he's worth holding onto a bit longer - here's why.

His surface stats might not stand out much as he's averaging just 15 points, four rebounds, and 2.4 assists; however, Vassell is usually a very efficient player and has more value in category leagues than points leagues due to his ability to contribute in percentages and keep his turnovers low. He's shooting just 42% from the field right now, but is a career 44% shooter. He's kept his turnovers under 1.0 per game this year, while also offering 0.5 blocks for the second straight year - a solid "out of position" stat contribution from a guard.

I know the Spurs backcourt is loaded with De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. But Vassell offers something a little different for this offense. Those other guards are slashers who can score at the rim, while Vassell is more of a spot-up shooter and a guy who can knock down mid-range shots. He's a solid glue guy for this team, and while he will probably alternate between some big nights and off nights, his overall contribution is going to settle in somewhere in the top-80 range.

Hang in there on Vassell in 12-team leagues. If you're in a shallower format or a points league format, then he's a much easier cut there.

Jrue Holiday, PG/SG - Portland Trail Blazers (54%)

I have been getting a lot of questions about Holiday, and his low rostership reflects that a lot of managers have already cut ties with him as they grow increasingly more frustrated with his long absence. Trust me, I get it. While I just spent over 1,000 words telling you to cut other injured players like Mathurin, Grant, and Murray, I think I would be holding Holiday for a bit longer.

The last update from Portland was that we could see him in the next few games - and that was a few games ago. If he is, indeed, nearing a return, then the last thing you want to do is cut him now. What separates Holiday from those other players I advocated for dropping is that he's been really, really good when on the court this season.

We are talking "top-30 in 9-CAT good" with averages of 16.7 points, 5.3 boards, and 8.3 assists. That's some vintage Holiday right there, and when you factor in the 2.6 threes and 1.6 steals, we are talking about a true 7-CAT player who can help you in every category but turnovers and blocks.

Holiday was playing at an incredibly high level, and this Portland team was very competitive with him on the floor, going 6-6 in the 12 games that he played before getting hurt. Even if his production dips to like 80% of that early-season output, we are still talking about a top-50 player and a guy who could help your team win a championship. Exercise some patience with Holiday (if you have any left) as he could be a real difference-maker in the second half.

Thanks for reading, and good luck making those tough roster decisions this week!

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