Blake Griffin will be out for the rest of 2016 after undergoing a knee procedure
With only two weeks left in the 2016 portion of the 2016-17 season, there’s never been a more important time to pay attention to this week’s NBA injury news.
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The Vertical is reporting that Blake Griffin will undergo surgery on his right knee, with an expected return date of sometime in January. Luckily, the reporting states the procedure is considered minor and is intended to “clean up” his knee. The Clippers have depth at the four-spot, albeit all of the veteran/limited upside variety. Marreese Speights (C – LAC), Brandon Bass (PF – LAC), Wesley Johnson (SF, PF – LAC), and the recently-returned Luc Mbah a Moute (PF – LAC) will chip in extra minutes until Griffin’s return. Unfortunately, they all also lack Griffin’s offensive creativity and ability to move the ball around the court. It may be perimeter players like J.J. Reddick (SG – LAC). Jamal Crawford (SG – LAC), and Austin Rivers (PG, SG – LAC) who end up picking up Griffin’s scoring and passing slack.
Tyreke Evans played his first game of the season on Thursday, but per NBA.com will be on a minutes restriction for the time being. Evans will be playing less than 15 minutes a game and will sit out the second game of back-to-backs. The Pelicans are desperate for healthy perimeter players, and Evans is worth an add now as he works his way back into playing shape. Veteran E’Twuan Moore (SG – NOP) should be the one to lose minutes here, as rookie Buddy Hield (SG – NOP) is shooting 50 percent from downtown in December and may be worthy of a stash himself.
The Memphis Grizzlies had won seven of their last eight games with Mike Conley out, but Conley’s surprise early return on Friday resulted in two straight Grizzlies’ losses. The NBA’s highest-paid player has shot only 29 percent from the field in his come back so far and may take focus away from the surging Marc Gasol (C – MEM). Gasol averaged nearly 24 points per game, with close to five assists, eight rebounds, and two three-pointers (on 47 percent shooting from deep) in December and put himself into down-ballot MVP consideration. While Conley may not return to his pre-injury greatness (his scoring and three-point shooting were at career-highs), he should return to his solid overall play. Until he’s doing so consistently, feel free to keep him out of your starting line-up.
There’s perhaps no sadder current NBA tradition than the annual Derrick Rose injury, and the New York Post is reporting that the New York Knicks won’t let Rose return until they know his back is healthy enough to be back for good. At 28, it’s becoming clearer (if it hasn’t been already) that Rose won’t be returning to his MVP-level play of his early 20’s. When healthy, you should expect 16 points per game on inefficient shooting, while adding four assists and three rebounds – as he has in the past four seasons when healthy. Brandon Jennings (PG – NYK) will get most of the minutes with Rose out but has his own past shadows to play out off. One unusual name to keep a name on is D-League point guard Chasson Randle, who played well for the (New York) Knicks in training camp and scored 38 points for the (Westchester) Knicks on Friday. Ron Baker (SG – NYK) may get some press for his floppy hair and streaky shooting, but shouldn’t have much impact in fantasy.
That’s it for this week’s NBA injury update. From this column to you, happy holidays 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.
