fBasketballBlog

Kaman is almost as valuable a fantasy player as Kobe at this point of the 2009-10 NBA season. (Flickr/gamerscoreblog)

We haven’t even embarked on the third week of the 2009-10 NBA regular season and there’s already a lot going on – injured bodies, prides and, consequently, damaged fantasy rosters. Let’s take a glance at the week to come.

Game watch:

4 games: DAL, GS, HOU, LAC, MIN, NO, OKC, PHI, PHO, POR, TOR, UTA
3 games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DEN, DET, LAL, MEM, MIA, NJ, NY, ORL, SA
2 games: IND, MIL, SAC, WAS

Waiver wire watch:

• Marreese Speights: still inconsistent, but getting enough minutes to put up decent points, boards and blocks; should be good play in four-game week in deeper leagues
• Rafer Alston: Devin Harris is still up to four weeks away from returning, Alston will be seeing 40+ minutes on most nights
• Terrence Williams: with Harris and Courtney Lee out with groin injuries, door is open for Williams to produce
  
• Beno Udrih, Omri Casspi, Andres Nocioni: no Kevin Martin around, these three will have to carry more of the offensive load; keep an eye on Nocinoi’s DUI discipline
• Will Bynum: 12/3/3.7 in six games without Rip Hamilton, who could be out at least another week
• Ben Wallace: continues to guzzle gallons of youth juice, good source of rebounds, steals and blocks
• Jonas Jerebko: if Tayshaun Prince needs surgery for his back, this Pistons forward would benefit as a permanent starting fixture
• Quentin Richardson: hard to trust, but remains a solid source of points, boards and threes
• George Hill: with Tony Parker out about a week, Hill will see more minutes and deserves a look in deeper leagues
• Taj Gibson: will continue to start in place of the injured Tyrus Thomas, should have some value in deeper leagues
• Tyler Hansbrough: back from shin injury, put up 13/5 in 13:49 on Friday, could be decent play as Troy Murphy recovers

Injury watch:

• Richard Hamilton (ankle): might be out another week
• Tayshaun Prince (back): might need surgery
• Pau Gasol (hamstring): could be back sometime this week
• Andrew Bynum (elbow): ditto
• Tyrus Thomas (arm): weight room accident, surgery, out four to six weeks
• Kenyon Martin (leg): could be back sooner than expected
• Andris Biedrins (back): might play tonight
• Troy Murphy (back): has a few days to rest, but not a good play in a two-game week
• Devin Harris (groin): out another two to four weeks
• Courtney Lee (groin): maybe groin injuries are contagious in Jersey; says it’s minor, could be back soon but be cautious
• Ryan Anderson (ankle): could miss a week, very close to losing most of his value with Rashard Lewis returning soon
• Vince Carter (ankle): returned too soon, close to returning but not a great play in three-game week
• Kevin Martin (wrist): surgery, out six to eight weeks
• Tony Parker (ankle): says it’s not serious, out about a week
• Mike Miller (shoulder): out another week
• Michael Redd (knee): out about another week, maybe longer
• Nate Robinson (ankle): could return next week
• Allen Iverson (pride): leave of absence for personal reasons, situation in Memphis is getting really ugly

Stock watch:

↑ Roy Hibbert: finally putting up some nice lines

↑ Brendan Haywood: finding his groove

↑ Chris Bosh: still on a tear, still shooting 100 percent (5-5) from beyond the arc

↑ Jamal Crawford: right at home in Atlanta

↑ Nene: steadier numbers, should remain that way as K-Mart recovers

↑ Andre Miller: starting alongside Steve Blake, putting up better stats, should be starting point guard soon

↑ Chris Kaman: still beastly on nightly basis

↑ Mike Conley/O.J. Mayo: no A.I. is good news for them

↑ Carlos Boozer: seems to be back on track

↓ Carmelo Anthony: has fallen back to earth, but still having a solid year

↓ Elton Brand: continues to struggle

↓ Jose Calderon: ditto

↓ Paul Millsap: suffocating as Boozer remains in Utah