November 17, 2016

JT rounds up injuries across the fantasy basketball landscape for week four of the NBA season. NBA injury news and updates for DFS and seasonal fantasy leagues.

RotoBaller has assembled NBA injury updates and advice on various injury situations throughout the NBA to help you prepare both your seasonal and daily fantasy league lineups in the NBA season. Understanding the injury landscape, including who's out and who could benefit is a key skill in all forms of fantasy basketball.

Here we will focus on the important questions: Who is injured? When are they coming back? Should you stash an injured player on your roster? Who is getting an opportunity in the mean time?  This injury analysis should assist in projecting how to respond to injuries in seasonal leagues. Consider this your one-stop overview of fantasy-relevant injuries in the NBA.

Editor's Note: New users that sign up on FantasyAces, make a $20 deposit, and enter any game will receive our full season NBA (or NFL) Premium Pass for free (includes DFS Cheat Sheets). Just email [email protected] with your new FantasyAces username - and boom, that's it! We will email you with your Premium Pass.

NBA Injury Roundup for Week Four

Playing Through the Pain

Chandler Parsons (SG/SF, MEM): Knee. Parsons is coming back from knee surgery and will continue to be limited for the next few weeks. James Ennis and Vince Carter have benefited the most from the extra run.

Questionable To Play

Bradley Beal (SG, WAS): Hamstring. Sheldon McClellan got the start, but Marcus Thornton and Tomas Satoransky are the guys to own here.

George Hill (PG/SG, UTA): Thumb. Dante Exum has been the starter, but has been mediocre in starts. Shelvin Mack has also benefited from the extra minutes.

Danny Green (SG/SF, SAS): Groin. Jonathan Simmons and Kyle Anderson have rotated on starts under Pop.

Anthony Davis (PF/C, NOP): Back, Quad. Terrence Jones has taken the starting spot and the bulk of minutes. Let's hope it's nothing serious.

Shabazz Muhammad (SG/SF, MIN): Knee. The extra wing minutes will fall to Nemanja Bjelica.

Brandon Rush (SG/SF, MIN): Toe. With Minnesota thin at the backup wing spots, Nemanja Bjelica will shift down to backup SF duties.

Goran Dragic (PG/SG, MIA): Ankle. Josh Richardson starts as the floor general with Tyler Johnson getting primary backup duties.

Justise Winslow (SF/PF, MIA): Wrist. Rodney McGruder got a surprise start and didn't look too bad.

Rajon Rondo (PG, CHI): Ankle. Jerian Grant was fantastic in his start and Isaiah Canaan held primary backup duties.

Al Horford (PF/C, BOS): Concussion. Tyler Zeller, Kelly Olynyk, and Amir Johnson continue to run it by committee. Should be back soon.

Jae Crowder (SF/PF, BOS): Left Ankle Sprain. Jaylen Brown has been mostly ineffective and Brad Stevens has often gone to Marcus Smart. Nearing a return.

Thabo Sefolosha (SG/SF, ATL): Knee. Tim Hardaway Jr. will absorb a lot of the bench wing minutes, but Coach Bud is giving their rookie Taurean Prince a chance as well.

Tony Allen (SG/SF, MEM): Groin. James Ennis has been the starter, but Vince Carter is closing games and has found the fountain of youth.

Out Short Term

Will Barton (SG/SF, DEN): Left Ankle Sprain. Jamal Murray gets primary backup minutes and has looked better since the poor start.

Devin Harris (PG, DAL): Sprained Right Toe. JJ Barea is eating up most of the backup minutes with Seth Curry in the background.

J.R. Smith (SG/SF, CLE): Ankle. Mike Dunleavy started the first game, then Coach Lue went to Richard Jefferson and Iman Shumpert. It's probably safe to stay with the latter.

Doug McDermott (SF, CHI): Concussion. The bench minutes were spread across Isaiah Canaan and Denzel Valentine.

Dwight Howard (C, ATL): Quad. Mike Muscala becomes a must-own while Dwight Howard is out.

Dirk Nowitzki (PF/C, DAL): Achilles. Harrison Barnes has been a beast and is seeing most of the PF minutes as Rick Carlisle opts to go small.

Deron Williams (PG, DAL): Left Calf. JJ Barea has been as solid as a YMCA vet could be filling in for a starter.

Jeremy Lin (PG/SG, BKN): Hamstring. Kenny Atkinson has been forced to start Sean Kilpatrick at PG. Isaiah Whitehead has been getting the backup minutes with Yogi Ferrell making appearances.

No Timetable to Return

Derrick Favors (PF/C, UTA): Knee Contusion. Trey Lyles and Boris Diaw will likely split minutes as Favors recoups from the injury.

Quincy Pondexter (SG/SF, NOP): Knee Surgery. E’Twaun Moore has gotten all the starts, while Langston Galloway has carved out deep league value.

Cameron Payne (PG, OKC): Foot. Semaj Christon has looked serviceable in real-life, but it hasn’t translated to fantasy ball just yet.

Out Multiple Weeks

Al-Farouq Aminu (SF/PF, POR): Calf. Terry Stotts has been going by committee/match-up with Meyers Leonard and Noah Vonleh to start the game. Allen Crabbe has seen the extra minutes closing games though.

Gary Harris (SG, DEN): Foot Sprain. Jameer Nelson has been named the starter, but we expect Jamal Murray to take adavantage of the situation as well.

Jodie Meeks (SG, ORL): Foot Surgery. Mario Hezonja has been getting primary backup minutes.

Mike Scott (PF, ATL): Knee. Has been ruled out for at least four weeks. Mike Muscala, Kris Humphries and Ryan Kelly (in that order) will take on reserve duties.

Michael Carter-Williams (PG, CHI): Wrist Sprain, Bone Bruise. Isaiah Canaan, Denzel Valentine, and Jerian Grant have all seen a few more minutes, but remain irrelevant on the fantasy end.

Reggie Jackson (PG/SG, DET): Knee tendinitis. Ish Smith gets bumped up to the starting spot and Beno Udrih backs him up. He’s resumed some basketball activities, so there’s finally signs of life.

Ben Simmons (SF/PF, PHI): Foot. Dario Saric is starting for the next couple of months with Ersan Ilyasova getting extra run.

Jerryd Bayless (PG/SG, PHI): Left wrist. Sergio Rodriguez is drawing the starts and TJ McConnell will have some deep league value for assists as well.

Tyreke Evans (PG/SG, NOP): Knee. E’Twaun Moore is getting the starts at SG while Solomon Hill and Dante Cunningham have both started at SF some point. Evans got his first practice of the season in, but should be out until early December.

Nerlens Noel (PF/C, PHI): Left knee surgery. Embiid and Okafor will eat up all the minutes at Center.

Jared Sullinger (PF/C, PHI): Foot surgery. Pascal Siakam will draw the starts with Patrick Patterson getting most of the minutes.

Likely Out for the Season

Khris Middleton (SG/SF, MIL): Torn hamstring. The Bucks push Tony Snell to the starting lineup for his ability to space the floor. Rashad Vaughn and Malcolm Brogdon have also benefitted

Chris Bosh (PF/C, MIA): Blood clot. Luke Babbitt will get the starts for now, but James Johnson and Willie Reed benefit from the extra frontcourt minutes.

Alec Burks (PG/SG, UTA): Left Ankle. Suffered a setback after off-season surgery. Rodney Hood should continue to earn the starts.

Nikola Pekovic (C, MIN): Chronic Ankle Issues. Will likely be bought out for the final year in his contract. Cole Aldrich has gotten the primary backup minutes behind Karl-Anthony Towns.