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According to the Lakers.com Basketblog, Trevor Ariza injured himself in Lakers’ practice after landing awkwardly on the foot of Derek Fisher. After an x-ray today, it was found that Ariza has a broken right foot and will likely be out for the next 8 weeks. Ariza joins Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Kwame Brown’s stone hands on one hurting Lakers sideline.
What does this mean for fantasy purposes? Well, the Lakers just signed free agent center DJ Mbenga to a 10-day contract today. Grab him for your team immediately.
No, I kid, I kid. Totally do not do that. While Ariza wasn’t really much of a fantasy player, his injury does have a surprising amount of fantasy impact. First, with Ariza out and the Lakers with a depleted squad, Luke Walton should get a lot of play at the small forward position. Walton finished 82nd on the player rater last season when he averaged 33 minutes a game. This season he’s only averaged about 25 a game, but expect to see that jump up while Ariza is out. As a result, Walton’s value rises back into the 80-100ish range.
Second, word is that the Lakers have some interest in bringing in Chris Webber after reaffirming for the 193rd time that Kwame Brown isn’t the answer. While a deal hasn’t been reached, the Ariza injury is just the type of kick in the ass the Lakers need to do something that sounds great in theory, but probably won’t work so well in real life. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
