Bing, Bam, Boom. I love it when a plan comes together

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, Free Agency, GMTR Leagues, Injuries, Player News
Posted on: October 30th, 2007

I was checking on my fantasy team this morning and I noticed that there was one of those little yellow news updates with the red explosion coming out of the side (so you know it’s new) next to Dwyane Wade’s name. It read:

According to the Miami Herald, Wade is making significant progress in his recovery from offseason surgeries on his knee and shoulder.

Hey, now that’s the news I’ve been waiting to hear. According to Wade, it’s still possible that he’ll be cleared to practice before Nov. 15, the target date for his return. That news makes me feel a lot better about drafting Wade in a couple leagues, especially in the GMTR readers league where we have a measly three bench spots. I wasn’t excited about losing 33% of my bench while Wade sat out for an extend time. Now if everything goes well, I won’t have to.

A couple of days ago, I wondered what the hell constituted an ankle sprain. Well, Jim Zegers of RotoWire.com (via NBA.com) steps up to the plate and breaks it down.

When the ankle inverts, or rolls on the outer edge of the foot, ligaments on the outside of the ankle may stretch beyond their normal elastic limits. In more severe cases they can tear, either partially or completely.

Ouch. He ends the article with this informative piece of info for Durant owners.

I would not expect Durant to play in those [preseason games] and realistically, the season opener on Halloween night is in doubt despite his promise to be ready.

Be prepared to get Durant out of your lineup for Wednesday if that’s the case.

The Wolves bought out Juwan Howard’s contract on Monday. The buyout amount wasn’t disclosed, but Howard was due about $7 per year over the next two years. Speculation is that Howard will likely to end up with the Cavs to help out Lebron while Anderson Varejao is still MIA with his a contract dispute. That would put Howard right behind Drew Gooden on the Cavs depth chart (unless you think Donyell Marshall is the answer) and possibly makes him a decent pickup in deeper leagues.

If you were on the fence, now is the time to get Yi Jianlian in your starting lineup. Jianlian will be in Milwakee’s starting lineup for their opener on Wednesday, with Charlie Villanueva coming off the bench. I don’t know if you’d actually call Yi’s preseason encouraging – he averaged 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 8 games – but it certainly wasn’t a disaster. I expect Villanueva to overtake him for the starting spot eventually, well, unless some Chinese Triads are extorting Buck’s owner Herb Kohl.

This news is a little stale, but Chucky Atkins is expected to miss six to eight weeks after severely straining his right groin. Unlike the ankle sprain, I’m not at all interested in finding more out about a severe groin strain. I’ll just assume rehab involves six to eight weeks of lying on a couch trying to avoid pornography and other naughty thoughts.

In a blast from the past, Penny Hardaway made the Heat roster, which is probably an indictment on Miami’s bench more than anything. He doesn’t have any fantasy relevance, but it’ll be nice to see him on the court after missing the past two years with injuries.

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