The Fantasy Basketball Cut List: Players to Drop or Hold - Week 14

January 22, 2026

Thunder Dan Palyo offers advice on which players to drop or hold in fantasy basketball leagues as of January 22, 2025. He helps managers make those tough decisions on who to cut in order to add breakout players off the waiver wire.

Another week has passed, and our patience with injured and underperforming players continues to dwindle. For many managers, the fantasy basketball playoffs will start in about a month, and I know a lot of leagues have moved their playoffs weeks up in recent years to avoid the "Silly Season" as much as possible.

As the season gets deeper into the schedule, you may find that some more prominent players are being featured here. It's important to remember that these suggestions should never be taken as the gospel and do not exist in a vacuum. The number of teams in your league, the scoring format, your team's position in the standings, and the playoff schedule are all factors that should be considered before cutting any player, let alone a highly-rostered player in which you likely invested a lot of draft capital back in October.

Just a reminder (or perhaps a disclaimer) that this article identifies players who can be safely cut in standard 12-team leagues. If you are in a smaller or larger league, then your level of patience with certain players will vary, and you should always trust your gut over some basketball analyst who doesn't know your team as well as you do. If you are 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!

Myles Turner, C - Milwaukee Bucks (92%)

Today is the day that many of you have been waiting for. I am officially endorsing a Myles Turner cut, and I know many of you have already moved on anyway. For those who have been wringing their hands about what to do with Turner, I am here to tell you that you can finally cut him and move on.

Turner sat out last night's game against the Thunder, which was the second game he's missed in their last four. His renaissance at the end of December feels like more of a fluke than a return to form, as he's been objectively bad for pretty much all of January.

Milwaukee is trying to win games and convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to stick around, so they've been cutting Turner's minutes due to his poor play. Bobby Portis isn't the same kind of rim protector as Turner, but he's been a better offensive player and rebounder, and he's eating into Turner's minutes substantially.

He's just outside the top-100 on the season, but if we zoom in a bit, we can see that he's been barely inside the top-150 (144 to be exact) over the last month and outside the top-200 (212) over the last two weeks. It's a clear downward trend for Turner, who has seen his blocks dip in a major way this season.

Centers who can block shots and hit threes are at a premium, but Jay Huff (ironically, the player who replaced Turner in Indiana) can give you the same stats (or maybe even better stats) than Turner right now. The Bucks play just three times next week, and if you're an aggressive manager who wants the flexibility to make some pick-ups, then moving on from Turner makes a lot of sense.

Jordan Poole, PG/SG - New Orleans Pelicans (79%)

I'm doing my best to avoid players who have been featured in earlier editions of the cut list this season. However, Poole had enough of a revival after he returned from a long absence that his rostership is still quite high, despite his lack of production in category leagues.

Poole is coming off the bench for the Pelicans and has seen his playing time dip in recent weeks. Last night he played more than 25 minutes for the first time in two weeks, but was still only able to muster up 11 points, two assists, and two steals on 4-17 shooting (23.5% - yuck).

He now ranks outside the top-200 and his only positive contributions to categories have been points and FT%. If you're in a deeper points league, he's probably still viable, but in 9-CAT, he's entirely droppable.

The Pelicans play just three games over the next eight days, so instead of sitting on Poole for the next week, free yourself of his burden and work the wire. We can easily replace his scoring and threes on the wire, hopefully with some more efficient players who won't be such a drag on FG%.

Lightly Rostered Players to Consider Cutting

Quentin Grimes, SG/SF - Philadelphia 76ers (30%)

Grimes very much fits the description of "better in real life than fantasy" right now. He's definitely a key member of the Sixers rotation and should continue to be down the stretch, but I think we have to reframe the way we are looking at him now that the Sixers are seemingly healthy (assuming PG13's most recent injury isn't serious, which it doesn't seem to be).

Grimes was a big-time contributor last year when the minutes were plentiful, but he's seen his role shrink in recent weeks, and now that Kelly Oubre is also back in the mix, I think we continue to see that trend.

Grimes is not a high-usage player when he's on the floor with Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and/or Joel Embiid. He would need to lean on efficiency to help his overall fantasy value, and that simply hasn't been there this season as he's shooting just 43% from the floor.

I know citing recent samples might be considered cherry-picking the data, but fantasy basketball is very much a "what have you done for me lately" situation, especially with marginal players like Grimes. He's dropped to 139 in 9-CAT over the last 30 days and 223 over the last 14-day sample. His numbers in that most recent sample are just 9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.1 threes on 40% shooting.

Others Who Can Be Cut:

• Keegan Murray - INJ (37%)
• Reed Sheppard (37%)
• Aaron Nesmith (23%)
• Cason Wallace (18%)
• Herbert Jones - INJ (16%)
• Jaden Ivey (14%)
• Zaccharie Risacher - INJ (12%)
• Daniel Gafford - INJ (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.

Tyler Herro, PG/SG - Miami Heat (93%)

Take it easy, I didn't say to cut him yet! And if you have an available IL slot, then perhaps just skip the rest of this analysis. I don't want to be an alarmist, but the recent diagnosis for Herro has me concerned about his potential of returning and playing in those most important fantasy playoff weeks.

If you didn't see it, an MRI revealed that he has cartilage that has detached from his rib cage. It's a pretty significant and apparently painful injury that he's dealing with. He didn't travel with the team for a five-game road trip , and his initial timetable to return to playing is somewhere around two weeks, which is the conservative estimate.

But if you do some research on this injury (as I did), you'll see that, depending on the severity of the separation, this could be something that he's dealing with for several months, not weeks.

He's appeared in just 11 games this year, but has played well when healthy and has top-40 upside. However, if he's not going to be healthy when your fantasy playoffs roll around, he's not worth eating up a valuable roster spot.

My advice is to keep a close eye on any more updates coming out of Miami regarding his timeline to return, and if it sounds like it's getting pushed back further, you may have to make the tough decision to move on.

Dillon Brooks, SF/PF - Phoenix Suns (41%)

Brooks has had a solid first season in Phoenix and was putting up some big numbers early in the year when Phoenix was down multiple starters. But Jalen Green finally returned to the lineup this week, Grayson Allen is back and playing well, and Collin Gillespie has also earned an opportunity to play solid minutes with his solid play.

Brooks has a reputation for being a surly player who can get under the skin of opponents and has been labeled a shutdown defender. His impact on the court has been substantial, and maybe his tough guy act off the court is helping to build a winning culture - I am not sure I am buying that - but his alleged toughness does not help us win fantasy matchups.

Who started this dumb narrative that Dillon Brooks is this super valuable winning player?

He's been the Suns 5th best player.

Booker, Gillespie and Mark Williams have been way better, Goodwin has been similar pic.twitter.com/Ekaqo3ySMZ

— Taylor Wyman (@taylormetrics) January 18, 2026

You might think it's crazy to entertain cutting a 20-point scorer, but Brooks stat lines have been pretty hollow this season, other than 2.5 threes. He's adding just 1.1 steals, 1.7 assists, and 0.1 blocks. And again, if we zoom in to the most recent samples, his rank drops to 150 over the last 30 days and 194 over the last two weeks.

You don't have to cut him yet, but I have a suspicion that his output may suffer the most from Green's return, and he's about to turn back into the fantasy player we saw in Houston and Memphis - a largely marginal player who is a points and threes specialist only.

Underperforming Players to Hold

Ausar Thompson, SG/SF/PF - Detroit Pistons (87%)

It's too late for a lot of you who have already dropped him, but for those who were still on the fence...WAIT! Thompson has played 28 minutes in back-to-back games and ranks 55th in 9-CAT over the last two weeks on the strength of 2.4 steals, 1.0 blocks, and 48% shooting.

With 12 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST and 3 STL in tonight's win, Ausar Thompson has now recorded 130 blocks, 931 rebounds, 229 steals and 352 assists thru his first 160 career games -- becoming just the fifth player in @NBA history to record those minimums thru 160 career games. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/kfhpIw3rmE

— Pistons PR (@Pistons_PR) January 22, 2026

If he doesn't fit your build, then I suggest moving on. However, for those who value the boards, defensive stats, and low turnovers, Thompson can be a real asset. He's not a points league player, but in 9-CAT formats (if you are willing to overlook some of his deficiencies), Thompson can add significant value. I am back in on him for the time being!

Toumani Camara, SF/PF - Portland Trail Blazers (39%)

I have been pleading with a lot of folks NOT to drop Camara in 9-CAT leagues. Again, this is not a points league player, but Camara can absolutely be a valuable asset in category leagues. I'll admit that I, too, have been frustrated by his inconsistent play, but Camara - even at his worst - is still just outside the top-150 right now at 159.

The biggest blight on his ranking is his 42.7% FG%, which is something that I think can improve in the second half. His role is secure in Portland as we continue to see him start and play bigger minutes. I think he will be better once Jrue Holiday gets back into the lineup, as that will hopefully create more open looks for him on the wing.

Camara has a solid skill set for 9-CAT and can contribute in multiple categories. He's not a volume player, but a guy who is a solid end-of-your-bench player who can help in those peripheral categories. Give him some more time; he's not hurting your team as badly as you may think.

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

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