Mike Conley will miss at least six weeks after injuring his back
We’re about a quarter of the way through the NBA season, so here’s your weekly round-up of fantasy-relevant NBA news.
Import your team for free to get waiver wire advice 
Conley will be out for at least six weeks, according to NBA.com, after being diagnosed with fractured bones in his vertebrae. A lack of depth at guard forced the Grizzlies – already dealing with absences from Chandler Parsons (SF,PF – MEM) and Zach Randolph (PF,C – MEM) – to start Andrew Harrison (PG,SG – MEM). Harrison isn’t worth a pickup, despite his 21-point debut as Conley’s replacement, due to his lack of shooting. Streaky Troy Daniels (SG – MEM), though, has averaged 23 points per game over the Grizzlies’ last three contests. Daniels is a career 42 percent shooter from downtown, albeit never with consistent minutes. If you need cheap shooting over the next couple of weeks, Daniels may be your guy.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Friday that Millsap, who has been out since this past Wednesday, may not be ready for Monday’s game against the Thunder. Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer described his leading scorer’s injury this way: “I would definitely say [Millsap is] not worse but not good enough to play.” Mike Muscala (PF,C – ATL) has been the replacement at power forward and his shooting (55 percent overall and 42 percent from three on close to two attempts per game) could make him a solid bench guy if Millsap were to miss extended time.
The wait continues for Nowitzki, as ESPN is now reporting that he is out “indefinitely” due to his sore achilles. The Mavericks are flirting with tanking, so there may be no rush to bring back the best player in team history just to lose games. Still, Nowitzki, who has played in five games this season, hopes to return by the end of December. His absence creates minutes for the Mavericks’ young roster, but unfortunately his skills have yet to be passed down. Dwight Powell (PF,C – DAL) works well in the Mavericks pick-and-roll offense but remains inconsistent, and Dorian Finney-Smith (SF – DAL) could be a gunner, albeit an inefficient one, from the wing, but neither are worthy of a bench roster spot for the time being.
On Saturday the Denver Post reported that Nikola Jokic will be out for at least three more games due to a sprained wrist – meaning he would be back Thursday in Washington at the earliest. Jokic outperformed expectations his rookie year, but so far isn’t showing the expected growth in his sophomore season. Danilo Gallinari (SF – DEN), who returned on Wednesday after missing three games with thigh issues, has averaged 15 points and 35 minutes in his past three games. Wilson Chandler (SF – DEN) has been on fire – getting close to 23 points and seven rebounds per game while shooting 42 percent from long distance post-Thanksgiving. Chandler’s worthy of a pickup right now, even at the expense of Jokic.
That’s it for this week’s NBA injury roundup. Keep your eyes on the injury list and waiver wire and don’t forget to stretch.
Jake Stern is a correspondent with FantasyPros. For more from Jake, check out his profile or follow him @TVsJakeStern.
