Kristaps Porzingis won’t be back until he’s “100 percent”
We’re barrelling towards the trade deadline, and it can be tough to tell who left the game for pain relief and who left for cap relief. That being said, here’s a rundown of this week’s fantasy relevant NBA injuries.
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KRISTAPS PORZINGIS (PF/C – NYK)
Per the New York Post, the Knicks are making sure Kristaps Porzingis‘ left Achilles is “100 percent” before returning, after missing his fourth game since the new year. The second-year big man further developed his overall game this year after a surprising rookie season, increasing his scoring by nearly five points per game and notching his three-point shooting over the 40 percent mark.
It’s tough to get excited by most of the Knicks’ roster, and they appear to still be hunting for the right rotation with Porzingis out. Two players to keep an eye on, however, are Mindaugas Kuzminskas (SF – NYK) and Willy Hernangomez (C – NYK). Kuzminskas, whose name I copied and pasted from his NBA.com profile page to avoid any potential misspelling, has been doing well from the field in January, shooting 51.9 percent from the field overall and 38.5 percent from three. Meanwhile, Hernangomez set a career-high with 13 rebounds on Sunday. Unless your league has some sort of Scrabble-related scoring category, neither are necessary pick-ups.
The Boston Celtics have been without their No. 2 scorer, Avery Bradley, for their last four games, and there’s still uncertainty as to his return, reports CSNNE.com. Bradley, always known for his defensive prowess, has broken out offensively this year by scoring a career-high 18 points a game.
Playing with a skillset similar to early-career Bradley, Marcus Smart (PG – BOS) is the pick-up here. The third-year point guard has played at least 36 minutes in each of the past three games with Bradley out, and his defensive and rebounding skills help fill out a box score. Further, Smart’s positional flexibility makes him a solid fantasy reserve even when he returns to the bench, as any injury on the Celtics roster will open up additional playing time.
Dan Woike on Twitter reported that Blake Griffin was able to complete “a pretty extensive workout,” increasing hope that the injured power forward’s return may be near. Unless Griffin is on a severe minutes limit when he returns, feel free to deploy him in your lineup as you would normally.
The Clippers had struggled at first with Griffin out, but they have rebounded to win six straight. Two players, in particular, have stepped up: DeAndre Jordan (C – LAC), who is averaging 18 rebounds and nearly 15 points per game in January, and J.J. Redick (SG – LAC), 19.5 points per game in January. Both players should retain some value but take a definite step back upon Griffin’s return.
Thanks for reading this week’s injury analysis. Keep an on the box scores 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.
