Fantasy Basketball: Dirk Nowitzki out 6 Weeks After Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

Kevin Love isn't the only big man who will start the season on the shelf. Dallas' star Dirk Nowitzki underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to miss at least six weeks.

This is a far more severe injury than Love's. For starters, it involved his knee. Any time your knee goes under the knife, there is a threat of lost mobility.

Fortunately, Nowitzki isn't jumping out of the gym, and with his length, he will still be able to get his shot off, but this could lead to early season struggles.

Dirk is no spring chicken at 34 and already saw his production dip last year. His scoring was at 21.6 points per game and his rebounds were at 6.7 per game, which were his lowest marks since the 1999-2000 season.

Dirk could end up missing 15 or more games, which puts a huge damper on his fantasy value. It's one thing when you blow up the stat sheet like Love does—you can afford to use a top pick on him still.

With his injury, Dirk is a low-end second-round pick at best (click here to see Top 50 rankings). He still will give you solid scoring, rebounds and three-pointers while shooting a decent clip from the floor and an excellent clip from the line.

He won't wow you with his other statistics, but he'll give you a solid amount of assists, steals and blocks without hurting your turnover totals too badly.

Don't shy away from Dirk altogether, but proceed with caution when you're selecting him.

Elton Brand should see a bump in value while Dirk is out.