Dose: Nasty Nate Robinson - 03/16/2012
BY Adam Levitan The 2012 trade deadline was a strange one for fantasy owners.
No less than five major deals went down, but they didn’t yield a single significant waiver pickup for those in competitive leagues. Jordan Crawford, Ramon Sessions, Wesley Matthews and Stephen Jackson all gained value, but all were likely already owned. I didn’t make any adds during the day.
However, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t see a shift in value for a ton of guys thanks to the trades. Aaron Bruski breaks down all the fallout, team-by-team, here.
OK, let’s get to the rest of Thursday’s news.
NEWS OF THE DAY #1
By trading away Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh for a guy who’s likely out for the season (Andrew Bogut), the Warriors showed their cards: They’ve given up on the season. And in the two days since that trade, the signs for Stephen Curry (ankle) have only gotten worse.
It’s now clear that both Curry and the organization have finally had enough of the incessant aggravations.
"When he's 100 percent, we'll look at put! ting him back on the floor," GM Larry Riley said. "We've talked at len gth about the situation, and we're going to take our time. We're going to come up with a plan that gets him completely healthy before he ever steps on the floor, and I don't know when that will be."
Curry definitely won’t play Friday or Saturday and even he sounds like he’s ready to shut it down for weeks instead of days. It’s not like the Warriors are really fighting for anything anymore except ping-pong balls.
“I’m getting fed up with dealing with the same thing over and over again and trying to push through it and not being able to produce like I want to on the floor. … That’s my main goal, to get healthy. What that means I’m not sure yet,” Curry said.
The bottom line is that the Nate Robinson party is going to rock on for the foreseeable future. Robinson has played 25 minutes or more 12 times this s! eason. In those games, he’s averaging 13.1 points, 5.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.2 3-pointers per game. With Ellis out of the mix, Robinson will have the ball even more. Along with locked-in starting shooting guard Klay Thompson, there’s a lot of upside here.
NEWS OF THE DAY #2
It was all smiles in Memphis Thursday as both Rudy Gay (concussion) and Zach Randolph (knee) practiced.
Gay has been fully cleared and will immediately resume his normal minutes. Randolph, on the other hand, is another story.
Z-Bo has been medically cleared off his MCL tear for a couple weeks now, but he wasn’t feeling comfortable. He wanted t! o have 100 percent confidence that he can do what he needs to do one t he court without worrying about his knee buckling. Therefore, Randolph is more than 10 weeks removed from an injury that was supposed to cost him no more than eight weeks.
Look for the Grizzlies to ease him in slowly with limited minutes for a few games. If everything goes well, Randolph should be back in the 31-35 minute range by late next week.
NEWS OF THE DAY #3
Part of the Nuggets’ motivation for the Nene trade was to free up some money. That money, of course, will be going in restricted free agent Wilson Chandler’s pockets shortly.
The Nuggets have confirmed that the two sides are close to striking a long-term deal and that Chandler could be with the team as soon as this weekend. We know Chandler is a starting-caliber NBA talent, but he’s coming into one of the more crowd! ed wing rotations in the league. With Arron Afflalo, Danilo Gallinari, Corey Brewer, Rudy Fernandez and Al Harrington all battling for minutes, Chandler’s upside is going to be capped.
NEWS OF THE DAY #4
Coach Vinny Del Negro didn’t hesitate when asked about the newly acquired Nick Young’s potential r! ole. He said he sees Young as a starter.
It’s really not all that surprising. Prior to Thursday night, Randy Foye had started 25 games, averaging 29.2 minutes in those contests. But he managed just 11.0 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 38.2 percent. Look for Foye to get phased out, leaving Young as the starter and Mo Williams in his customary third guard role.
THURSDAY NIGHT GAME THOUGHTS
Kevin Love dinged his thumb but X-rays showed no problems. He’s fine. … Al Harrington sustained a leg injury of unknown severity. … Brendan Haywood sustained a “mild” right knee sprain. Brandan Wright and Ian Mahinmi would split time if Big Brendan is out. … Steve Nash and Grant Hill got the night off to rest as the Suns were on a back-to-back. … Marco Belinelli’s 13 minutes were strange. No injury was reported, but adding Greivis Vasquez while we wait can’t hurt. … Don’t adjust your box score. Paul Millsap really had eight steals. ... Derrick Favors had 16 boards in just 22 minutes off the bench. He'll get two starts this weekend with Al Jefferson (personal) away.
INJURY FAST BREAK: GUARDS
Eric Gordon is (knee) is “working out hard,” but there’s still to real target date. The Hornets maintain that they hope he’ll play in the season’s final month. … Derrick Rose (groin) is not expected to play this weekend as the Bulls take a conservative approach. … Jose Calderon (ankle) c! ould be back by Friday or Saturday. … Tyreke Evans (ankle) is day-to-day.
INJURY FAST BREAK: FORWARDS AND CENTERS
There’s still no timetable for Emeka Okafor’s (knee) return. This feels like a shutdown. … Jermaine O’Neal (wrist) is not expected back this season. With Chris Wilcox (heart) also done for the year, it’s wide open for Brandon Bass. … Luol Deng 9wrist) says he’s not planning on sitting out any more games. Hard to believe that. &hell! ip; Spencer Hawes’ (Achilles) minutes will continue to be limited and he’ll likely sit out the second half of back-to-backs for a while.
DEPTH CHART FAST BREAK
The Hornets say they have no intention of buying out Chris Kaman. Party on for owners. … Monta Ellis will make his Bucks debut Friday, coincidentally against the Warriors. … Daniel Gibson is expected to see backup point guard minutes going forward. … A Boris Diaw buyout could be coming in the next few days. The Spurs and Knicks may show interest in him as a backup. &he! llip; Nate McMillan was fired. Consider it a clean slate for the Blazers that are left. |
