If they're out · DEN

Who gains without Strawther, Braun and Johnson

With Strawther, Braun and Johnson all three out (5 games like this since last season), Jones played 31 minutes (usually 22) and took 1 more shot than usual; our estimate: 29 minutes (Likely).

5 games with all of them out since last season: Dec 31, Jan 13, Jan 14, Jan 20, Jan 22. Their minutes when they play: Strawther 16, Braun 33, Johnson 30.

Strawther has missed 5 of the team's last 10; Johnson has missed 5 of the team's last 10, so most of their minutes are already in everyone's recent numbers.

Likely strong evidenceLean some evidenceWorth watching a tip, not a promise
Spencer Jones
F · 64 games since last season
Likely
Minutes22 → 29 +6
Shots4 → 5 +1
Fantasy pts14 → 17 +3
  • 31 minutes and 17 fantasy points a game in the 5 games he played with all of them out
  • came in for 27% of the times one of them left a game
  • +10 minutes in 7 games without Johnson alone since last season
  • +10 minutes in 23 games without Braun alone since last season
Aaron Gordon
F · 41 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes28 → 30 +2
Shots13 → 14 +1
Fantasy pts28 → 30 +2
  • 31 minutes and 33 fantasy points a game in the 4 games he played with all of them out
  • came in for 19% of the times one of them left a game
  • +4 minutes in 4 games without Johnson alone since last season
  • −5 minutes in 3 games without Braun alone since last season
Zeke Nnaji
F-C · 53 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes12 → 15 +3
Shots3 → 4 +1
Fantasy pts9 → 11 +1
  • 17 minutes and 10 fantasy points a game in the 4 games he played with all of them out
  • +5 minutes in 10 games without Strawther alone since last season
  • +3 minutes in 16 games without Braun alone since last season
Everyone else · usual → tonight
How this works, and how often it's rightShow

We start from each teammate's recent minutes, shots and fantasy points since last season, then hand out the minutes the missing players have been playing: mostly to whoever came in when each of them left a game, and to whoever played more when each one sat on his own, with a small nudge toward the same position. Minutes a player already lost while someone was out are not counted twice. Shots move with how often each teammate finished plays when none of the missing players were on the floor. When the exact group has sat together 4 or more times, those games count too.

We checked it on 1,183 games in 2025-26 where a team had two or more rotation players out, using only games played before each one. Our minutes were off by 5.2 a player on average in games from February on, against 6.06 using season averages and 9.41 adding up each missing player's own "who gains" numbers. Fantasy points: off by 8.12, against 8.59 and 12.48. Our biggest predicted minutes gainer was one of the night's two biggest gainers 52% of the time (adding up single-player numbers: 37%).

Likely means 6 or more minutes over his usual: 79% of those players really did play at least 2 more. Lean (3.5 to 6 more): 65%. Worth watching (2 to 3.5 more): 52%. Blowouts, foul trouble and coaches' whims make any one night noisy.