Paul Pierce is dealing with a heel injury that could make him miss the team's season opener. Normally this would be a huge concern but the start of the NBA season is upon us and Pierce hasn't player in two preseason games now and couldn't finish practice Monday. Heel injuries tend to linger and at 34, it's probably wise to bump him down a few notches on your draft sheet.
Corey Maggette was back at practice on Tuesday after taking a few days off to deal with a back issue. Owners of Maggette in the past know his checkered injury history which has cost him many games over the course of his career. That being said, he qualifies at small forward (a shallow position) and could be in line for big minutes and a lot of shots when healthy.
Ricky Rubio won't play in Thursday's preseason game but it supposedly is not due to his ankle injury. Coach Adelman downplayed the injury and we're suggesting it's due to getting to see other players in action. Rubio is a risk of a pick this season; he has great pedigree and can distribute the ball. The question for him will be his shooting and the distribution of minutes to the three Wolves' point guards once the season starts.
LaMarcus Aldridge will play in the preseason finale for the Trail Blazers. There will be no restrictions as far as minutes go and if you grabbed him if he fell in drafts, the move could pay off handsomely. The biggest loser with this news is Nicolas Batum, who will be relegated to coming off the bench. Of course Batum is a versatile enough of a player that should an injury befell a starter; he might find himself with playing time.
Kris Humphries re-signed with the Nets. Insert lame joke here. The truth is Humphries was a valuable fantasy commodity last season being a waiver-wire add in most leagues who averaged over a double-double. It appears getting Dwight Howard isn't currently in the cards and with few rebounding options (looking at you Brook Lopez, although he admitted to being a "lazy rebounder" last year), Humphries should be in line to at least duplicate last year's numbers.
David West will make his Pacers debut on Tuesday. The forward is expected to play between 10-12 minutes and could end up paying huge dividends for those who drafted him despite his injury status.
Derrick Rose agreed to a five-year, $94 million dollar deal with the Bulls. This was not a tough call by Chicago given the strides he made as a third-year player. While many might look at the drop in over four percent from the field, that should be acknowledged with an extra 112 three-pointers for fantasy owners. That's a solid trade-off.
Chris Paul was merely average after being traded to the Clippers. Not. Of course he went for 17 points, nine dimes, seven boards and five steals in a paltry 24 minutes. The guess here is he'll be fine with Blake Griffin and the newly re-signed DeAndre Jordan.