Chris Paul – CP3 could return for Monday's game, but my guess is that the Hornets play it safe with Paul and hold him out until after the All Star break. If you are a Paul owner, try to think big picture. Sure, your amazing point guard is missing a few games. But hey, you still are Chris Paul owners, and when he returns in a few games your team will be just fine.
Prediction: Paul doesn't play until after the All Star break. I'm saying this based on no evidence, of course. This is just a prediction. So go with your heart. But my heart says CP3 doesn't play this next week.
Chris Bosh – The Chris' (Bosh & Paul) avoided major injury, while the Andrew's (Bogut & Bynum) didn't. Bosh owners would probably be wise to bench him until after the All Star break.
Prediction: Bosh doesn't play until after the All Star break.
Deron Williams – Nothing to worry about here. After bruising his knee, he returned to post back-to-back 34-point games. Carry on.
Prediction: Remember when Deron's ankle was buggin' him early in the season and he was a weekly fixture in this column? That was real worry. This injury is relatively minor.
Cautious Optimism
Delonte West – When healthy, West is a sneaky-good fantasy player because he does everything medium-well. He won't Jamal Crawford your shooting percentage, for example. Anyway, West's cast is off and while there is no timetable for his return, you'd have to think it will happen at some point in February.
Prediction: West returns on February 22nd for a home game against Detroit.*
Unmitigated Wariness
Danny Granger – I really am worried about Granger, but I really don't think that this will turn into a Ron Artest type situation (you know, where Artest plays whenever he feels like it). Some might see the Pacers falling farther out of contention and see that Dunleavy has just re-injured his knee and think that Granger will shut it down. But Granger just doesn't seem the type that would let himself be shut down. He plays through chipped teeth, cut fingers, sore knees. And I think he likes playing in pain. The guy is a fighter. I wouldn't trade Granger. Keep him. Ride him. He will carry you. This is Granger we're talking about. The Batman. In Granger I trust. So that's were I stand. I'm betting everything on Granger. Still not convinced? Did you ever see what his chipped teeth looked like? Check it out here. The dude is a fighter.
Prediction: I'm starting to think this whole Granger-shutdown thing is a complete over-reaction. Right? Please?
Drew Gooden – Not looking good. If he has a sports hernia, it could end his season, as a similar ailment recently ended former NBA player Josh Childress' season. Tyrus Thomas owners have to be at least a little happy about this development, as Thomas has played well with Gooden out of the lineup.
Prediction: More concrete information about Gooden will come after the All Star break.
Active Worry
Jameer Nelson – Drop him and move on. Not everyone will agree with this advice, but I get pretty aggressive when it comes to major injuries to players in the second half of the season. Why wait until you are certain that Nelson is out for the year if waiting means you'll miss out on a waiver wire pickup? Anyway, the most likely scenario at this point is that Nelson is out for the year. The second-most likely scenario is that he pulls an Elton Brand and teases you for a few weeks before going under the knife. It's over. Tyronn Lue wasn't brought in because Nelson's outlook is a positive one. Sessions or Conley anyone?
Prediction: I feel pretty confident in saying that Nelson is out for the year.
Andrew Bynum – Honestly, I'm confused. Is he going to be back in 8-12 weeks or is he going to be back in 5 weeks? My guess is that he's not going to help anyone fantasy-wise this season. Still, I'm holding out hope. I'm not sure why I'm holding out hope for Bynum but have zero hope for Nelson, but that's the way it is. Hopefully there will be a less confusing update on this situation in the near future.
Prediction: I still don't have a good feeling about this one. I'm thinking this is going to be one of those "might be back for the playoffs" type injuries.
Elton Brand – Not much to say about Brand. He's done. The only thing I'll add is that Brand recently donated shoes to a charter school run by a friend of mine. So that was nice. I'll stop before this starts to sound like a eulogy.
Prediction: Brand will probably be super cheap to draft next year.
Andrew Bogut – It's been a rough week injury-wise, hasn't it? On my team, my top three draft picks missed games due to injury this week. Bogut is out with a back fracture. I put him in the Nelson category: slight hope, but even if he does play, he's probably not going to help your team soon enough, or even enough, to be worth waiting on him. Cut him loose and move on.
Prediction: Bogut will probably be pretty cheap to draft next year.
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