Is Boozer Back?
Monday Morning Injury Breakdown
Tony Allen – thumb – Out for rest of reg. Season.
Kevin Garnett – knee – Won't play this week or next.
Sasha Pavlovic – ankle – Out five more weeks.
Jason Terry – hand – Likely will miss the full six weeks.
Kenyon Martin – back – Probable for Monday, but I don't trust him.
Nene – knee contusion – I didn't like what I saw on TV. Bench him.
Monta Ellis – ankle – Setback is here, rest of season in doubt.
Andris Biedrins – ankle – Should play Monday – finally.
Brandan Wright – shoulder – Not likely for this week, but closer.
Tracy McGrady – knee – He says he's done, Rockets have no comment.
Carl Landry – ankle – Iffy for the week, I'd bench him.
Jeff Foster – back – Finally played Sunday, still risky.
Mike Dunleavy – knee – Out indefinitely. I think you can cut him.
Danny Granger – foot – Out 10 days to three weeks. Bench for now.
Zach Randolph – suspension – Suspension over, dad is sick in Indy.
Marcus Camby – ear infection – How annoying have his DNP's been?
Al Thornton – foot – Missed first game on Sunday, day-to-day.
Brian Skinner – Achilles – Could play this week, but why risk it w/ him?
Mike Taylor – thumb – Close to return, but no value.
Chris Kaman – foot – Will supposedly play in 25 games. We'll see.
Andrew Bynum – knee – Still on word on realistic return date.
James Jones – hand – Day-to-day, but no reason to use him.
Dorell Wright – knee surgery – Getting close, but no fantasy value.
Andrew Bogut – back – Season very much in doubt.
Michael Redd – knee – Done for the season.
Al Jefferson – knee – Season over.
Jarvis Hayes – thumb – Could play through it, but not worth it.
Eduardo Najera – ab strain – Not much value when healthy.
Morris Peterson – foot – No value when healthy.
Tyson Chandler – ankle – Should play this week (again) – 4 games, but risky.
Chris Duhon – ankle – Playing through it, look for inconsistency.
Eddy Curry – knee – Could play again, but no fantasy value.
Desmond Mason – knee – Out for season.
Jameer Nelson – shoulder – Not likely to play again this season.
Mickael Pietrus – wrist – Day-to-day, but lost job to Lee.
Elton Brand – shoulder – Season over.
Grant Hill – foot – Playing through it, but I'd bench for now.
Amare Stoudemire – eye surgery – Done for regular season. Hello, Barnes.
Greg Oden – bone chip knee – Surgery coming? Hello, Przybilla.
Martell Webster – foot – Likely done for season.
Drew Gooden – hernia – Could need surgery.
Manu Ginobili – ankle – Need two more weeks to get healthy. Hello, Roger M.
Carlos Boozer – knee surgery – Hoping to play tonight. Start at own risk.
DeShawn Stevenson – back – Day-to-day, but no value this season.
Etan Thomas – knee – Trying to avoid surgery. Forget him.
Brendan Haywood – wrist – Not likely to play again this year.
Gilbert Arenas – knee – Wiz still want him to play 15 games. Why? Don't know.
News and Notes
Eye Giveup
So I was sitting there minding my own business Friday around noon when the news of Amare's eye surgery came out of nowhere and punched many of you in the gut. It's pretty bizarre when injury news like that breaks, as there had been almost nothing made of his eye injury prior to the news that he had surgery. Another crushing blow in the most injured NBA season I can remember.
Grant Hill looked good for a second, but his foot injury is pretty scary in itself. Therefore,
Matt Barnes is the new forward flavor of the month in Phoenix, but
Leandro Barbosa is the sure bet for success now that he's starting at shooting guard.
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Big Ticket
I own
Kevin Garnett in several leagues and had just started to try to move him when he went down last week.
Brian Scalabrine looked good in his place yesterday, but I can't imagine that lasting for long.
Glen Davis and
Leon Powe still look like the way to go, but all options are too risky to use this week until we see who is going to step up. Maybe it will be Scalabrine, but I just can't see it.
Nene and K-Mart
Nene's knee injury last night is making me pretty nervous, as he was in some tremendous pain. Wincing, asking the trainer not to touch it, never putting weight on it, etc. Most of Nene's owners have been quietly waiting for this day to come, but he was hopefully moved before it got here. I'm benching him this week. Martin's back is not in great shape, although we're now hearing that he's probable for tonight. But with so many four-game options out there for this week, I'm guessing you can find a better play. If they're out,
Chris Andersen could have a big week, while
Renaldo Balkman would likely get more starts.
Monta Got a Raw Deal
I caught quite a bit of "stuff" for being so down on
Monta Ellis this season, but now that he's been shut down for at least the next couple weeks I'm feeling pretty good about never buying in. I'm still fairly shocked and amazed that the Warriors were so anxious to have him play this season, but am not shocked and amazed that his ankle is causing him problems. With the Warriors out of the playoff race back in December, I still have no idea what they thought they were going to accomplish by bringing him back this year at all. If the answer is because he's getting paid, it doesn't hold water. The idea is to protect your investment, not destroy it. Like, just because you paid $50,000 for an autographed Babe Ruth baseball doesn't mean you have to take it out in the front yard and throw it around with your kid, right? Anyway, it's possible that Monta is done for the year, although probably not likely. But I still don't understand why the feeling is that he has to play this year. Just like I have no idea why in the world the Wizards would risk playing
Gilbert Arenas for a single second the rest of the way. Get these guys healthy, keep them healthy all summer and then come back in November ready to go full bore.
Done-leavy and Granger
Dunleavy is probably done for the season, although no one in the Pacers' organization will actually admit that. And Granger could be as well, although I really get the sense he's coming back and playing some more this season – at least for as long as the Pacers are still in the playoff hunt. But once they're eliminated, look out. I know I caused a bit of a
Granger Panic over the last few weeks and many of you were not very happy initially that you sold him cheaply in order to get out from under him. But I'm guessing all is forgiven at this point now that he's not playing. For some reason, it seems like a lot of my hunches about the big-named injuries came to fruition this year.
Four Clips
Marcus Camby's ear infection kept him out all week, which was a crushing blow to many of us. Hopefully he's finally ready to go this week, but the fact his ear drum collapsed on a flight is pretty telling of the mess that is the Clippers this year. Camby still hasn't been cleared to fly, but could play tonight in L.A. Still no signs of
Chris Kaman, and I'm not the least bit surprised. Again, I'm not even thinking about picking him up and have not even bothered to check to see if he's available in any of my leagues.
Al Thornton's foot injury kept him out of his first game of the season last night and he's day-to-day. Hopefully he can play through it, but I have benched him in the one league where I own him.
Zach Randolph should return to action tonight, although there is a little bit of a question because he was in Indy visiting his ill father. I haven't heard that tonight's game is in jeopardy, so he should be OK to start. But it's something to keep an eye on up until game time.
Oden
Greg Oden's knee injury may or may not turn out to be serious, but you can't use him until we get some news either way. I would not be surprised if he needs more surgery, but that is clearly speculation at this point.
Joel Przybilla looks like a pretty good play for now and possibly the rest of the season.
Boozer
Carlos Boozer is supposedly going to give it a go through his knee surgery tonight. I'll still believe it when I see it, but given the fact that it really does sound like he's ready to play,
Paul Millsap is now a risky play. Start either of these guys at your own risk this week.
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=subHead vAlign=top colSpan=3>Carlos Boozer likely to return on Monday </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=vaLabel colSpan=3>Carlos Boozer - F/C - UTA - Feb. 23 
