Around the NBA: Fantasy Basketball News and Notes From Nov. 9

News

• Chris Kaman sprained his ankle in the first quarter of the game last night against the New Orleans Hornets. The initial reports have him missing 2–3 weeks of action, but keep in mind the initial reports on Aaron Brooks' sprain said the same thing and now its 4–6 weeks. So make sure you keep an eye on this situation. In Kaman’s absence, Deandre Jordan and Craig Smith should see increased minutes and both are guys to keep an eye on for deeper leagues.  I especially am intrigued by the upside of Jordan, who showed some potential in limited action last season.
• Apparently, Ron Artest knows what he’s talking about. We discussed the report yesterday where Artest suggested that Brandon Roy was playing hurt, and now today news comes out of Portland that Roy’s minutes will be getting cut as he continues to nurse different injuries. Apparently this was the plan all along, but the injury to Rudy Fernandez forced the team continue to play him more than they would have liked. With Fernandez back, Roy’s minutes will now likely be cut, though no word on how drastic a cut it will be. On behalf of all Roy owners out there, there should be a rule that teams have to divulge this information prior to me spending a second-round pick on a guy.
• The injury to Monta Ellis appears to not be as bad as what it looked like it could be when he fell hard on his back the other night. As of now the Warriors are calling him day-to-day and he is questionable for the next game. If he misses a game, Reggie Williams will likely see his time on the court and would be a nice fill in for a day as he can “score the basketball,” as some like to say, from time to time.
• The Mavericks are going to be sending Jason Terry back to a sixth-man role and promoting Deshawn Stevenson to the starting lineup. This doesn’t diminish the value of Terry, nor does it make Stevenson someone I am remotely interested in owning.
• Shaquille O’Neal could be good to go as soon as Thursday for the game against the Heat. With Jermaine O’Neal possibly out, Shaq could see some decent minutes and possibly some productive ones if he is indeed healthy.

Game Notes

• The whole Pacers team deserves a mention after racking up 144 against the Nuggets last night while shooting a ridiculous 64.4 percent from the field. Darren Collison finally had the big game we were waiting for with 29 points, six assists and four threes. Brandon Rush made a nice return scoring 16 points along with seven rebounds. Unfortunately the guy he’s trying to unseat for a starting gig, Mike Dunleavy, scored 31 points and made six threes.
• Gary Forbes continues to show the ability to score points when given time on the court. He’s only played in three of the last five games, but in those three games he is averaging 12 points despite playing only 19 minutes. He scored 16 and made three three-pointers last night. If he keeps it up, Denver is going to have to play him, but nothing more than just a guy to keep on your radar.
• It was done in a losing effort, but Travis Outlaw had himself a game last night, netting 27 points, including four three’s and he pulled down seven rebounds. It’s been an up-and-down year so far for Outlaw, who has three games of 17 or more points and four games of six or less points. He is averaging just over 27 minutes a game though, and while it’s frustrating to predict when it’ll happen, he’s going to have some big games if he keeps getting these kind of minutes.
• Antawn Jamison came back from missing a couple games last night and scored 15 with eight rebounds and three three-pointers. I still think Jamison is a quality buy-low guy, especially if the Cavaliers start to think they can contend for the playoffs still this season. Jamario Moon hasn’t been impressive and Jamison should see just as much time as any of the five starters on this team.
• I don’t intend to talk about Paul Millsap after every Jazz game, but he continues to force my hand, and last night’s 46-point outburst has to be mentioned. Everything was going well for Millsap last night who even made three three-pointers, the only three he’s attempted all year long. At some point I assume Millsap’s production may tail off a little, especially once Al Jefferson gets a better grasp of this offense and Mehmet Okur is healthy, but right now Millsap is the man in Utah and he is thriving in the role.
• There really isn’t a whole to say about Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. Other than I wouldn’t expect this team to lose a game where these two played like they did last night. That has zero fantasy relevance, I realize, just an observation.
• Al-Farouq Aminu had a breakout performance last night coming out of nowhere and dropping 20 points and grabbing eight boards in 30 minutes. He got extra minutes as the Clippers went small on the floor with Kaman going down with an injury.
• It was in a losing effort, but Austin Daye had his best game of the year last night scoring 15, hitting three three-pointers and grabbing eight rebounds. He was a popular sleeper, but its taken him some time to adjust to the NBA game. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come; he’s worth stashing on the bench in case he is on the brink of breaking out.
• We saw first-hand just what Kevin Love can do with proper minutes. Love got 38 minutes on the floor last night, which is a season high, and responded with 23 points and 24 rebounds. And that was against the Lakers. I realize it’s a small sample size, but I just want to point out that this season his rebounds per 48 minutes are 20.8. That is absolutely ridiculous.

Make sure to check out The Rotoprofessor later this afternoon for links to other great recaps and solid fantasy analysis from around the Web.