Maybe because I didn’t follow the NBA preseason as closely last year as I was working exclusively on Football, but I feel like there’s been a lot more preseason injuries in only the first week of action than in year’s past. Then again, Rodney Stuckey wasn’t even on the court, and slammed his thumb in his car door and needs surgery. It’s gonna make for a hell of a hitchhiking thumb in that cast! What it is with Detroit athletes and getting hurt in their cars? Not even a month ago Nate Burleson broke his arm reaching over to keep some boxes from falling and slamming into the median. All Detroit athletes need to avoid using motor vehicles. Maybe that’s proof right there Obama shouldn’t have bailed out GM. Give them all mopeds. Oh wait, yeah that won’t work, will is Monta Ellis? Maybe segways? I’ve got it! Just tell Andre Drummond he has to carry every Detroit athlete to where they need to go until his FT% goes above 50. He’ll be like a Detroit athlete tauntaun. See, tell me why I’m not an NBA coach. I already had moved Kentavious Caldwell-Pope way up before the Stuckey injury with how the Pistons coaching staff was praising him, and look for KCP to move to right around 100 overall in my next rankings update. Here’s what else went down since we last looked in at preseason action:
Ersan Ilyasova – His ankle didn’t break, but it sounds like it’s in worse shape than Brett Favre after having a bounty on him facing the Saints. No time-table has been set, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this lingered into the regular season. As a Roddy White owner in a few fantasy football leagues, sprained ankles make guys a big no-no for me on draft day for a while. He’ll fall down my rankings.
John Henson – Should be starting with Ersan on the Ershelf. Ekpe Udoh is also hurt, after undergoing arthoscopic knee surgery. Banged up Bucks. I’m moving Henson a healthy dose up as his minutes stand to vastly increase.
Tyreke Evans – His ankle sprain seems less severe and coach Monty Williams said he could be back in just over a week. Still not touching guys with ankle injuries, even if minor.
Eric Gordon – Still conditioning as he returns from ankle surgery. More Pelicans, more bum ankles. Do Pelicans have ankles? Let’s say “upper talon injuries”.
Deron Williams – Yet another guy with a lingering ankle issue. A-no thank you, sir, I’ll pass.
Brandan Wright – Curse of JB’s rankings! I thought he’d have a solid under-the-radar season, but it will unfortunately start with him on the bench nursing a fracture in his shoulder. Sounds miserable. Won’t be drafting.
Steve Nash – Complaining that he’s gimpy. Even if he wasn’t an NBA player, he could have it looked at for free since he’s Canadian. What’s the Health Care sitch in the US? I haven’t heard anybody mention it lately…
Nicolas Batum – Sustained a concussion this past week. He should be fine for the regular season. I just got a mental image of David Stern snickering after watching League of Denial. He probably called Roger Goddell afterwards and just laughed.
JaVale McGee – Is now 8 for 8 free throw shooting so far this preseason. In related news, McGee just won the Colorado State lottery.
Michael Beasley – Was reported that he punched himself so hard in the head in Wednesday’s preseason game that he needed medical attention. But it got debunked, with the reality being he did hit himself, but the injury was from an errant elbow from Jonas Jerebko. Apparently Beasley said afterwards, “I had everybody in the world calling me and asking, ‘Why you so crazy?'” The answer to that could take a while…
Ben McLemore – Hit another two 3-pointers in his second preseason game, giving him 5 already. Sounding like he’s a great ThrAGNOF late pick!
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Not only is his name nuts, he plays nuts. Put up a line of 1-6 for 4 Pts, 7 Rebs, 0 Asts, 1 Stl, 4 Blks, 7 TOs and 5 Fouls in 28 minutes. As much as I was hoping I wouldn’t have to learn to spell his name, with Udoh and Ilyasova hurt, he might actually play some decent minutes off the bench – Rony Seikaly broke Google! Here’s some video from that game. Apparently the Bucks only want lanky, ridiculous wing-span centers after already having Henson, The Colonel, and Udoh.
Anthony Davis – Playing unreal this preseason. In 31 minutes on Wednesday against the Magic put up 29 on 9-20 shooting and 11-11 from the stripe. Add to that 9 boards, 2 steals and 4 swats. I think I may move him into the second round.
Iman Shumpert – Will be starting at least the first five games while J.R. Smith is out serving a suspension, and I think needs to be owned the first couple of weeks. Had a perfect night shooting on Wednesday, going 7-7 from the field, 3-3 from deep and 1-1 at the FT line. Followed that up with a 10/9/2/3 line last night. Will be a nice contributor early.
Kelly Olynyk – Had 4 TOs and 4 Fouls in 17 minutes off the bench on Wednesday against the Knicks. Followed that up with a 6-16 shooting night yesterday. Not feeling as hot for Kelly.
Eric Bledsoe – Even though he shot poorly (3-11) on Wednesday night, put up a nasty line of 6/5/9/4/0 in only 25 minutes.
Omri Casspi – After a big start to his preseason, Casspi kept it up Thursday night going 17/10 with two threes. Patrick Harrell, a Rockets blogger who chatted with us on The Double Bonus Sports Radio Show earlier in the week, talked up Casspi being a big acquisition and might get more run than we expect. Worth keeping an eye on in deeper leagues.
Aaron Brooks – Fouled out in 17 minutes against the Pacers on Thursday. Hilarious.
Will Bynum – Had a great scoring game on Thursday putting up 28, but it was without Stuckey, Brandon Jennings or Chauncey Billups and he played 47 minutes. Also had 7 TOs. Nothing to get excited about.
Anthony Bennett – Despite some conditioning issues, put up 16 in 21 minutes last night. I’m still not that excited, but was encouraging to see a nice output in game action.
Trey Burke – Shot only 3-10 in last night’s preseason game against the Blazers. Still went 7/5 in 25 minutes with only 2 TOs. Continue to like him heading into drafts.
Victor Oladipo – Went 18/8/3 as long as we’re still talking rookies. Think he’ll be pretty solid.
James Anderson – As I mentioned in my last update, if you’re in a deep league and just need minutes, Anderson is way off the reservation. That’s a baseball idiom, not a Native American one, right? I just don’t want another Redskins fiasco going down here on Razzball. Anywho, JA went 6-10 for 16 points last night with two threes and six boards.
Look for an update on our rankings to be out early next week, along with auction values for the top 200 by mid-week. Have a great weekend Razzball Nation!
