Believe it or not, we are approaching the halfway point of the NBA season. Injuries have been rampant throughout the league, which might have put you in a hole with regards to your fantasy basketball squad. If you need some help at the center spot, here are four big men to consider adding for Weeks 13 and 14 who are still available in the majority of Yahoo leagues.
Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves (51 percent available): What is going on with Karl-Anthony Towns? The Timberwolves continue to list him as day-to-day, but he hasn't played in over three weeks. There really haven't been any promising updates on his status, so it's difficult to project what's going to happen with him moving forward. Given that the Timberwolves will play four games in each of the next two weeks, this is an extremely important situation to monitor.
If Towns remains sidelined, then we should continue to see increased production from Dieng. He's started all 12 games in which Towns has been out, averaging 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.8 three-pointers. The problem with him is that with Towns continuing to be listed as day-to-day, he could return to a bench role at a moment's notice. Still, his upside is high enough to warrant adding him if you need a big man. Just be sure to have a backup plan in place for when Towns does eventually return.
Nerlens Noel, Oklahoma City Thunder (62 percent available): It
Believe it or not, we are approaching the halfway point of the NBA season. Injuries have been rampant throughout the league, which might have put you in a hole with regards to your fantasy basketball squad. If you need some help at the center spot, here are four big men to consider adding for Weeks 13 and 14 who are still available in the majority of Yahoo leagues.
Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves (51 percent available): What is going on with Karl-Anthony Towns? The Timberwolves continue to list him as day-to-day, but he hasn't played in over three weeks. There really haven't been any promising updates on his status, so it's difficult to project what's going to happen with him moving forward. Given that the Timberwolves will play four games in each of the next two weeks, this is an extremely important situation to monitor.
If Towns remains sidelined, then we should continue to see increased production from Dieng. He's started all 12 games in which Towns has been out, averaging 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.8 three-pointers. The problem with him is that with Towns continuing to be listed as day-to-day, he could return to a bench role at a moment's notice. Still, his upside is high enough to warrant adding him if you need a big man. Just be sure to have a backup plan in place for when Towns does eventually return.
Nerlens Noel, Oklahoma City Thunder (62 percent available): It sure doesn't look like the Thunder are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. They have themselves firmly in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference despite undergoing a significant roster overhaul during the summer. There were rumors that they would probably like to trade Steven Adams, which, depending upon the return, could open up a starting role for Noel. He's already provided value just in his limited role off the bench, averaging 7.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks while shooting 66 percent from the field.
Not only might Adams not be going anywhere anytime soon, but Noel has missed the last three games with an ankle injury. The team continues to list him as day-to-day, so his status is a bit murky going forward. However, with the Thunder set to play four games each in Weeks 13 and 14, he's worth adding off waivers if he does get cleared in time. If he's not ready for Week 13, be sure to at least keep him on your radar for Week 14.
Christian Wood, Detroit Pistons (80 percent available): The Pistons didn't enter the season with much margin for error if they were going to make the playoffs. Unfortunately for them, those hopes have been dashed because of injuries. The most notable of which was suffered by Blake Griffin, who is now out indefinitely after deciding to undergo knee surgery. With their 14-25 record, the Pistons are also reportedly shopping Andre Drummond, who has been by far the best player on the team.
Wood has had difficulty establishing himself in the league with the Pistons being his fifth team in four seasons. The injury to Griffin does leave him with the potential for added playing time, but it appears that Sekou Doumbouya will be the primary beneficiary. With that being said, Wood has still provided respectable averages of 10 points and 5.8 rebounds across his last eight games. Add the Pistons playing seven games across the next two weeks with the potential of a Drummond trade and grabbing Wood now could prove to be a wise move.
Daniel Gafford, Chicago Bulls (92 percent available): The Bulls had playoff aspirations heading into the season and looked to have enough talent on their roster to squeeze their way into the eighth seed considering the weak bottom part of the Eastern Conference. However, they enter Friday with an unsightly 13-25 record and flat out can't beat teams with winning records. Now to further complicate matters, their emerging young center Wendell Carter Jr. will be out 4-to-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain.
In the first game that Carter missed, the Bulls started Thaddeus Young alongside Lauri Markkanen against the Pelicans. That left Gafford to play just 16 minutes. However, he did record two blocks in that game and is now averaging exactly two blocks across his last eight contests. There is a chance that he could start some games against teams with more size up front, but even if he spends most of the time coming off the bench, he could be a difference maker if you're hunting for blocks, especially with the Bulls set to play four games in each of the next two weeks.
