This article is part of our NBA Waiver Wire series.
If you play fantasy football - and I'm guessing a pretty significant portion of this column's readers have spent some time agonizing over the second-string running back on the St. Louis Rams - you know that concussions are a scary business. They affect players differently, in a wide variety of ways, and recovery time is near-impossible to predict.
Which brings us to Chris Paul.
Paul collided with Cleveland's Ramon Sessions during Sunday's game, hit the deck hard and had to be removed from the cart on a stretcher. He's travelling with the team, but he's already missed one game and could miss several more.
How many is the big question. Channing Frye and Vince Carter both suffered concussions recently - Carter missed one game, and Frye didn't miss any. And Anthony Morrow has missed one game due to the concussion he suffered in Friday's game in London - but was able to fly home from the UK and participated in practice on Tuesday. (Morrow is 50% owned, incidentally - which seems low for a shooter of his caliber, especially with Deron Williams getting him open looks.)
But Mike Miller has missed significant time this season with what the Heat have called "concussion-like" symptoms, and similar problems derailed most of Tyler Hansbrough's rookie season.
Fantasy owners would be well-advised to proceed with caution here and assume that CP3 could miss significant playing time. That makes Jarrett Jack a must-add. He's just 38 percent owned in Yahoo! Leagues as I
If you play fantasy football - and I'm guessing a pretty significant portion of this column's readers have spent some time agonizing over the second-string running back on the St. Louis Rams - you know that concussions are a scary business. They affect players differently, in a wide variety of ways, and recovery time is near-impossible to predict.
Which brings us to Chris Paul.
Paul collided with Cleveland's Ramon Sessions during Sunday's game, hit the deck hard and had to be removed from the cart on a stretcher. He's travelling with the team, but he's already missed one game and could miss several more.
How many is the big question. Channing Frye and Vince Carter both suffered concussions recently - Carter missed one game, and Frye didn't miss any. And Anthony Morrow has missed one game due to the concussion he suffered in Friday's game in London - but was able to fly home from the UK and participated in practice on Tuesday. (Morrow is 50% owned, incidentally - which seems low for a shooter of his caliber, especially with Deron Williams getting him open looks.)
But Mike Miller has missed significant time this season with what the Heat have called "concussion-like" symptoms, and similar problems derailed most of Tyler Hansbrough's rookie season.
Fantasy owners would be well-advised to proceed with caution here and assume that CP3 could miss significant playing time. That makes Jarrett Jack a must-add. He's just 38 percent owned in Yahoo! Leagues as I write - but that number could increase in a hurry.
Picks for the Week
The first set of picks is for players in standard leagues - guys who may be available in your average 10 team/15 player roster league. The second group is for owners in very deep leagues, and will be based more on speculation than actual numbers.
All "percent owned" stats are taken from Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball - your mileage may vary.
Shallow Leagues
Tyrus Thomas (52% owned) - Thomas was putting together a pretty nice season before he was sidelined by a knee injury. He's expected to return to Charlotte's lineup for Wednesday's game against the Bulls.
Chase Budinger (43% owned) - With every game, Budinger is strengthening his hold on the starting small forward spot in Houston. He played 37 minutes against the Kings Monday, racking up 20 points with five boards, and twos in the steal, assists and block columns.
Toney Douglas (19% owned) - Mike D'Antoni won't bring Chauncey Billups (bruised thigh) back until he's fully pain-free. That could mean a few more starts for Douglas. Even after Billups comes back, Douglas could have a significant role as one of the Knicks' primary second-unit scorers.
Deep Leagues
Derrick Favors (15% owned) - Rookie should be in line for additional playing time until Paul Millsap is completely healthy.
Hakim Warrick (13% owned) - It appears Warrick will get the first crack at filling the void left by Channing Frye's absence - which is expected to last two to three weeks.
Courtney Lee (11% owned) - The departures of Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks have opened up a bigger role for Lee, who played 30-plus minutes in Monday's game.
Martell Webster (5% owned) - The T-Wolves are easing Webster back into the rotation after his latest injury, but don't forget, he was playing more than 27 minutes per game before he got hurt. As his minutes increase, so should his value.
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