Brian McKitish, Fantasy Basketball 9y

Fantasy hoops weekly dish: Jan. 26

Fantasy, Fantasy NBA, ESPNDB NBA

After a wave of injuries hit the NBA over the past week, fantasy owners were left scrambling to add viable replacements off the wavier wire.

With major movement in the top-130 rankings due to the aforementioned injuries, let's take a look at the biggest storylines impacting fantasy owners over the past week.

We'll start with LaMarcus Aldridge, who will attempt to play through a torn ligament in his left thumb (nonshooting hand). News broke on Thursday that Aldridge would miss six to eight weeks with the injury, but after a shocking turn of events he suited up for Saturday night's tilt with the Wizards, posting 26 points with nine boards and two steals on 9-of-22 shooting from the floor. Aldridge was sporting a brace on his injured thumb, which obviously didn't affect his play on Saturday. That's not to say that the injury won't flare up and force him out at any time (hence his drop from 12th to 19th), but it looks like his owners dodged a bullet here. Needless to say, he should be added immediately in leagues where he was dropped, and he will be a high-risk, high-reward option moving forward.

Don't expect Kobe Bryant to make a miraculous Aldridge-like recovery from his torn rotator cuff. The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer will miss the rest of the season with the injury, and the 12-32 Lakers will struggle to find viable scoring options in his absence. Nick Young (14.3 points and 1.7 3-pointers in 12 games this month) and Jordan Hill (12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 0.7 blocks during the same span) should be owned in all leagues, while the rest of the Lakers leave a lot to be desired from a fantasy perspective. Those in deeper leagues may want to give a look at Jeremy Lin, Wesley Johnson or even Wayne Ellington or Jordan Clarkson, but admittedly there's not much to see here outside of Young or Hill for fantasy leaguers.

The official word has come out on Brandon Jennings' injury: a torn Achilles that will sideline him for the duration of the season. It's terrible news for the Pistons and Jennings, as the rising point guard was on fire this month with averages of 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.5 3-pointers per game. With Jennings down, the Pistons will turn to the very capable D.J. Augustin, who last season averaged 16.3 points, 4.2 assists and 2.2 3-pointers after the All-Star break for the Bulls. Augustin should be added ASAP in all leagues and will be a great resource for points, assists and 3-pointers the rest of the campaign.

Kemba Walker will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the cause of his left knee soreness and rumors are floating that he may require surgery. His owners should hang tight for now, but his replacement, Brian Roberts, may be a nice speculative add in fantasy leagues. Roberts has averaged 13.0 points, 4.0 assists and 1.0 3-pointer in three starts for the Hornets this season and would offer low-end fantasy value in standard formats if Walker were to miss significant time.

Jrue Holiday is expected to miss at least two to four weeks with a stress reaction in his right leg. This is particularly concerning news given that Holiday missed considerable time with a similar injury last season. In his absence, expect Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon to pick up the slack for the Pelicans. Evans has been great all season, but fantasy owners should check the wire to see if Gordon is available after he's averaged 17.4 points, 5.6 assists and 1.6 3-pointers over his past five games.

Now might be a great time to buy low on Al Jefferson, who's currently coming off the bench and averaging just 12.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in four games this month after missing his previous nine games. Jefferson hasn't been as dominant as we've come to expect this season, but he is averaging 17.4 points, 8.0 boards and 1.3 blocks per game on the campaign. He'll be back in the starting lineup in no time and should finish strong as long as he can remain healthy.

What in the world is going on with Rajon Rondo? After averaging 15.5 points, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals in his first seven games with the Mavericks, he's managed just 6.4 points, 6.8 assists and 1.5 steals over his past nine games. There may be a small buy-low opportunity here, but that's a risky gamble given how poorly he's played of late. His owners should weather the storm and hope he breaks out of this slump.

Al Horford may have started the season slow, but he's really turned things around as of late with 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.3 blocks in 12 games in the month of January. Horford finally looks completely recovered from the pectoral injury that kept him out for most of last season, and is playing terrific ball since the New Year for the streaking Hawks.

So now we finally know what's been going on with Nicolas Batum: He's been playing through a torn ligament in his shooting wrist for the past month. That explains his career-low 38.7 percent shooting from the floor. What remains unclear is how long he'll be able to play through the pain, or if he'll need an extended rest to heal up. Batum is still providing valuable stats across the board, but his owners should be looking for an exit strategy given the injury concern.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm going to keep mentioning Elfrid Payton until he's owned in more than 42.4 percent of ESPN.com leagues. Surely a guy who's averaging 10.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.1 steals over his last 11 games deserves to be owned in more leagues than that, right? Even his current ranking at 86th overall might still be too low given the way he's played over the past month.

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