Injury Updates - PG out again, but welcome back Hartenstein!
Which players should you be adding as replacements?
The revolving injury list door continues to rotate.
Tyrese Maxey and Isaiah Hartenstein returned on Wednesday (Maxey had to shake off some rust, but Hartenstein was brilliant), and Scottie Barnes is close to returning as well. Those are three major game-changers, and I have several shares of each player (fist pump).
But there was plenty of bad news on Wednesday, as Paul George hyperextended the same knee he hurt in preseason, and it was announced that De’Anthony Melton is set to undergo season-ending ACL surgery. And just when Patrick Williams was starting to find his groove, he’s now dealing with inflammation in his surgically repaired left foot.
Superstar Luka Doncic is going to miss at least a week with a sprained right wrist, and big-time value pick Norm Powell is going to miss at least two more games with a hamstring issue. And on the same night that he scored a season-high 17 points, Alex Caruso aggravated a hip injury.
On the brighter side, DALTON KNECHT has turned into a major force with Rui Hachimura sidelined. Also, CJ McCollum should be returning soon, and for what it’s worth, Khris Middleton has been practicing.
So what does all of this mean for us?
Here are my injury takes on 10 teams around the league…
76ers
This is terrible news for PG owners, and it means that Jared McCain will continue to get tons of minutes and be a high-usage player. Caleb Martin will continue to log heavy minutes as well, and if Kelly Oubre Jr. was recently dropped, he’s someone to monitor. Yabusele scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from deep yesterday, and he’s an interesting fit alongside Embiid. I think George misses at least a couple of weeks, so this same thing doesn’t happen a third time.
Thunder
Things are looking up if you had Hartenstein chillin’ on your bench, as he’s going to do a bit of everything for the next few months. Lu Dort really cooled off on Wednesday, but he’ll continue to play around 30 mpg. If Caruso is going to miss some time, then Wiggins, Wallace and Joe might have some low-end value. Otherwise, they’re looking expendable now.
Raptors
One player who has REALLY benefited from the absence of Barnes has been Jakob Poeltl. I wouldn’t sell him at a discount, but it’s worth exploring his trade value given his huge stats, as they’re going to fall once Barnes is back. Barrett and Dick’s counting stats will also go down, but hopefully they’ll become more efficient. The player to worry about here is Ochai Agbaji, as he’s quietly been really solid thus far.
Warriors
So Melton is officially out of the picture, but it’s still a major logjam. Until Steve Kerr can find a way to drop down to a 10 man rotation, this seems like a situation to avoid.
Mavericks
It’s a big deal anytime Luka sits out. But according to the renowned Jeff Stotts, this isn’t anything major to worry about:
Stotts: “Re: Luka Doncic: Keyword is sprain, indicating the injury occurred to one of the many ligaments in the wrist. There is a high degree of variability in these types of injuries. However, the average time lost for nondescript in-season wrist sprains is 5.9 days (~ 2 games).”
It will be interesting to see if Klay Thompson is more aggressive now, and if he can have some big games. If not, I can see PJ Washington and Jaden Hardy stepping up, and Quentin Grimes is starting to acclimate to his new team. Dinwiddie received a DNP-CD in their last game, so Jason Kidd hasn’t been thrilled with his play.
Lakers
Okay Dalton, we see you! The rookie was en fuego on Tuesday, pouring in 37 points on 9-for-12 from deep. He’s now made 21-of-31 threes over his last 4 games.
Can he keep this up, and has he officially supplanted Hachimura in the Lakers’ starting lineup???