Professional athletes and fans alike understand that injuries are a part of sports, but the sheer number of injuries that we’ve seen over the first three weeks of this NBA season has been shocking. It’s unfortunate, but it also feels like the new norm due to the fast-paced nature of today’s game.
So what does this mean for fantasy managers? Well, if there’s a constant stream of players getting injured, then there’s a constant stream of players who will try to step up and fill the void. There will probably be a higher turnover rate than usual when it comes to adding and dropping players, so if you’re in a league with a limited number of player pickups allowed, I suggest you choose those moves wisely.
On Sunday night, fantasy managers of Chet Holmgren may have seen their fantasy hoops season flash before their eyes when he fell hard on his right hip and started screaming in agony. The result was a hip fracture, with an 8-to-10-week timeline before the Thunder will provide another update. If I were to guess, I would say Chet won’t play another game until February. If he’s on your team, you should probably aim for a third-place finish now, as you’ll be hard-pressed to win your league with him out for that length of time.
What does this mean for the rest of the Thunder?
1. Isaiah Hartenstein should be added everywhere!
As of Monday night, Hartenstein was rostered in 83 percent of Yahoo leagues and just 29 percent of ESPN leagues, but he should be added in all competitive leagues! While he’s still recovering from a fractured left hand, his return to the court may only be a couple of weeks away. There’s a good chance that Hartenstein will be able to play two full months or more before Holmgren returns to the court, and he will be a fantasy beast during that time frame.
2. The Thunder will continue to score lots of points
On Monday night, the Thunder scored 134 points, with excellent shooting percentages of 51.6 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from beyond the arc and 95.7 percent from the free throw line. They made 18 threes and assisted each other on 31 of their 47 made field goals. Even without Holmgren’s excellent defense, the Thunder still forced the Clippers into 23 turnovers (well above their season average of 17.2 entering Monday’s game).
3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams will turn it up to 11 while Holmgren is out
SGA scored a season-high 45 points on Monday, and I expect him to start scoring 30-plus points per game again, just like his previous two seasons. Meanwhile, J-Dub had one of his finest all-around games of the season on Monday, and he should easily produce top-20 fantasy stats over the next few months.
4. Luguentz Dort should be locked in now
Dort played a season-high 35 minutes on Monday, and despite him grabbing just two rebounds, the Thunder will really lean on his defensive physicality to set the tone on that end of the floor now. Dort’s 3-point shot can be streaky, but he made four treys on Monday to go along with two steals.
5. Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace will be solid-to-decent contributors
Both Joe and Wiggins started on Monday, playing 31 and 29 minutes, respectively. Joe was especially productive, tallying 12 points, three boards, three assists, three steals, one block and two threes. At least until Hartenstein returns, Joe and Wiggins should provide solid value in deeper leagues.
Caruso played just 20 minutes off the bench on Monday but scored a season-high 12 points. In the past, he has shown a willingness to defend bigger players, which the Thunder will need from him now. Ditto for Wallace, who also played 20 minutes off the bench on Monday. Wallace has received some spot starts this season, but given the Thunder’s lack of height with Holmgren out, I think they’ll continue to favor Joe and Wiggins in the starting lineup.
6. Keep an eye on: Ousmane Dieng, Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams
Dieng played just 9 minutes off the bench on Monday, but he has the perfect opportunity to show that he deserves a bigger role. His 3-point shot hasn’t been falling this season, but he’s averaging 9.3 rebounds per 36 minutes, which is OKC’s glaring weakness now. And don’t forget about the veteran Kenrich Williams, who made his season debut on Monday (he was recovering from offseason knee surgery). He had a reduced role last season but averaged 21-plus minutes per game in each of his first five NBA seasons. Jay-Will has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, but plenty of minutes will be waiting for him once he’s ready for game action.
15 more players who I recommend adding
Amen Thompson, HOU (69% rostered in Yahoo leagues)
Thompson finally received a spot start on Monday, thanks to Fred VanVleet sitting out with a foot issue. He stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, eight boards, four steals and four blocks in 28 minutes of action. Amen has excellent upside because he can fill in at virtually any position and tends to make an impact whenever he’s on the court.
Dyson Daniels, ATL (66% rostered)
Daniels’ rostered percentage tells me that 34 percent of Yahoo leagues are loaded with fantasy managers who either don’t know or don’t care. The man has inhaled 17 steals over his past three games, which Dyson’s V15 vacuum can’t even accomplish.
Bennedict Mathurin, IND (53% rostered)
Mathurin is red-hot, with averages of 24.2 points and 8.2 rebounds over his past six games. A bunch of his teammates are banged up, yet he’s barely rostered in half of all Yahoo leagues?!?
Christian Braun, DEN (51% rostered)
Not only is Braun getting a lot of minutes (35+ in four straight games), but he’s scoring efficiently — 55 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 81 percent from the line for the season.
Ausar Thompson, DET (45% rostered)
We finally have some positive health news — Ausar (blood clot) has been medically cleared to start playing for the Pistons! There might be a ramp-up period to get him in prime shape, but this is great news.
Payton Pritchard, BOS (44% rostered)
- Stephen Curry: Seven games played, 22.0 points, 3.9 threes, 47.2 percent from the field, 43.5 percent of 3-point shots.
- Payton Pritchard: 11 games played, 16.5 points, 3.9 threes, 47.6 percent from the field, 43.0 percent of 3-point shots.
Tari Eason, HOU (39% rostered)
Eason is Amen Thompson’s partner in crime, and he’s wreaking havoc on defense while scoring efficiently. He’s been sneaky valuable for fantasy.
Goga Bitadze, ORL (31% rostered)
In four starts since Wendell Carter Jr. went down with a foot injury, he’s averaging 10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. You could do much worse at center currently.
Kyshawn George, WAS (29% rostered)
After some strong breakout games, George was moved back to the bench on Monday, but he still saw 25 minutes of action, and Kyle Kuzma has done nothing to impress me thus far.
Carlton Carrington, WAS (25% rostered)
His scoring is up and down, but Bub finds a way to impact games, and Washington is giving the rookie plenty of playing time.
Peyton Watson, DEN (21% rostered)
We knew that Watson could block shots in limited minutes (seven swats over his past four games), but he’s scored 14.5 ppg over his past four games as well. He’s a rock-solid play until Aaron Gordon returns.
Stephon Castle, SAS (16% rostered)
In theory, dropping Castle about a week ago made sense because he was struggling to produce, and Devin Vassell’s return was imminent. But since Vassell returned, Castle has looked like a completely different player. Let’s see if he can keep it going.
Grant Williams, CHA (12% rostered)
With Miles Bridges, Nick Richards and Mark Williams all out with injuries, Grant Williams has become one of Charlotte’s better frontcourt players. He’s a nice short-term add.
Jared McCain, PHI (11% rostered)
In my Zen Hoops newsletter that went out on Friday morning, I had this to say about McCain:
“Kyle Lowry is expected to start… but I think it will be hard for Nick Nurse to keep McCain glued to the bench. He has explosive scoring abilities.”
Sure enough, over McCain’s next two games, he exploded for a combined 45 points on 7-of-17 shooting from deep. Don’t forget to subscribe if you want to discover who will break out next!
Anthony Black, ORL (5% rostered)
He’s been coming off the bench for Orlando, but Black is gaining confidence as both a playmaker and a scorer while also being active on defense (four steals and three blocked shots over his past four games).
(Top photo of Chet Holmgren: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports)
