In the span of five days, the Fantasy landscape may have changed dramatically for countless of you, and not for the better. We already went over injuries to Jimmy Butler and Tyreke Evans earlier in the week, though their situations have changed a bit as well just in the last two days.
The biggest blow, however, probably came Tuesday, when the Grizzlies announced center Marc Gasol is out indefinitely with a broken right foot. The team hasn't offered a timetable -- one will be made available after the All-Star break -- but this doesn't look good. We'll get to updates on Butler and Evans' status later, but first lets look at what Fantasy owners should be doing in the aftermath of Gasol's injury.
Gasol has been ever-so-disappointing this season, but that doesn't mean you won't miss his presence. Even in a slightly down season, he played in the Grizzlies first 52 games, and put up solid numbers across the board, even if he struggled at times with consistency and efficiency. You're going to miss him, and you might miss him for good.
The Grizzlies haven't given a timetable, but foot injuries to big men usually aren't good news. We have to see what the exact nature of the injury is, but we saw Kevin Durant miss about six and a half weeks last season with a Jones fracture in his foot, an injury that ultimately required three surgeries during a lost season to repair. In another high-profile case, Brook Lopez lost multiple seasons with a broken foot, including the final five months of 2014.
Every injury is different, obviously, but even if Gasol was able to return in, say, six weeks, you're looking at a pretty much lost Fantasy season. The most likely outcome is that he misses the rest of the season, which means dropping him is almost assured. As tough as that is to swallow, you probably don't have much of a choice.
Toothless Grizzlies
And the worst thing is, Memphis doesn't exactly have a natural replacement for Gasol. No team would, obviously, but with Brandan Wright still recovering from knee surgery, the Grizzlies don't really have another center on the roster besides Ryan Hollins.
Zach Randolph has played 403 minutes this season without Gasol on the floor, and his most common frontcourt mate was second-year forward JaMychal Green, who has played 247 of those minutes. Green seems like the most likely candidate to see an increase in minutes in Gasol's absence, but it probably won't be much -- he played just 12:49 in Monday's game despite Gasol's injury.
Green doesn't bring much rim-protection to the table but has added a bit of range to his jumper, something the Grizzlies will need to goose the offense in Gasol's absence. However, his per-36 minute averages -- 13.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.3 personal fouls -- don't exactly jump off the page, and in all likelihood, he is looking at a role of around 20 minutes per game or less; he is just a deep league flier.
In all likelihood, we'll probably see a boost for a pair of forwards who have been coming off the bench lately -- Jeff Green and Matt Barnes. Green has played 460 minutes with Gasol off the floor and has sported a 24.4 percent usage rate -- with averages of 17.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per-36 minutes. Barnes has put up 12.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per-36 with Gasol off the floor, so Green is obviously more of a priority.
Of course, Green is already owned in 79 percent of CBSSports.com leagues, so he may not be out there for you. He is a must-add where available, and Barnes is worth adding as well -- he is available in more than half of CBSSports.com leagues.
Outside Help
If you're looking for help beyond the Grizzlies' roster, your options aren't great either. Maybe you can make a speculative add on someone like Jusuf Nurkic (39 percent owned) or John Henson (21 percent owned), either of whom could be a second-half breakout candidate. Or you could add a lower-upside play with a more guaranteed role, like Tyson Chandler (64 percent owned.)
The problem is, the pool of available players at center just isn't particularly deep right now. There was a point earlier in the season where guys like Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee were making an impact off waivers, but that well has dried up at a particularly bad time for Gasol owners.
Your best bet is to snag someone like Chandler for the time being and plug him in, and use that spot as a streamer whenever someone more interesting comes along. It's an imperfect solution, but it is probably the best you can do given the circumstances.
Sorry.
Butler and Evans updates
- There's plenty of room for second-guessing how the Pelicans' handled Tyreke Evans' return from knee surgery, especially now that he is set to undergo his third surgery on the knee in a span of 10 months. Evans played well when he was on the floor, but lingering issues with the knee caused him to miss the team's previous seven games before the announcement of an additional procedure. Norris Cole (56 percent owned) has played 31.2 minutes per game and averaged 14.9 points and 6.1 assists in Evans' absence, and should be viewed as a must-add player. Bryce Dejean-Jones will continue to see solid minutes, but has done very little to warrant a look outside of the deepest of leagues.
- Jimmy Butler will miss three to four weeks with a strained left knee, and has already been ruled out for the All-Star game. He will likely be out through the end of February, which is disappointing for those of you fighting for a playoff spot, but certainly not catastrophic. E'Twaun Moore is a solid fill-in option for a scoring and shooting boost, while Mike Dunleavey could provide a bit of a bigger all-around lift if he can get back to the 25 MPG level after the break.
