2014-15 NBA SEASON PREVIEW CONTENT LIST
Atlantic: Celtics | Nets | Knicks | 76ers | Raptors |Division Preview
Central: Bulls | Cavaliers | Pistons | Pacers | Bucks | Division Preview
Southeast: Hawks | Hornets | Heat | Magic | Wizards | Division Preview
Pacific: Warriors | Clippers | Lakers | Suns | Kings | Division Preview
Northwest: Nuggets | Timberwolves | Thunder | Trail Blazers | Jazz | Division Preview
Southwest: Mavericks | Rockets | Grizzlies | Pelicans | Spurs | Division Preview
Top 10 by Position: PG | SG | SF | PF | C
Top 10 Lists: Sixth Men | Sophomores | X-Factors | Rookies | Games to Watch | Comeback | Contenders | Breakouts
Articles: Assessing the Cavaliers Trio | Important Season for James Harden | Return of Paul George? | Trading Rajon Rondo | Are the Nuggets This Season’s Suns? | NBA’s Best Starting Five | NBA’s Worst Starting Five | Now or Never for Durant and Thunder After Injury
Fantasy Basketball: Top 10 PGs | Top 10 SGs | Top 10 SFs | Top 10 PFs | Top 10 Cs | Sleepers, Studs, and Sinkholes | Analyzing the Schedule | BMF Mock Draft | Cavs and Cav-Nots | Like A Bosh | Rajon Injury Impact
Media Day: Clippers | Hawks | Kings | Knicks | Magic | Mavericks | Nets
Image courtesy of Alvin Domondon/Flickr.
Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo is expected to miss 6-8 weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a broken finger. Prior to this news Rondo was a prime candidate to put in a bounce-back season this 2014-15. Opening night is four weeks away, so how should this unfortunate turn of events affect Rondo’s rankings going into fantasy basketball draft night?
Off the top, it is never a good sign when a player has to miss all of training camp, let alone the preseason and the first couple of weeks of the regular season. Prior to any adjustments Yahoo has his O-rank pegged at 32, which has him going off the board in the third round of most standard sized leagues. The Celtics play a total of 12 games across the first four weeks of the season. That means, assuming Rondo does not experience any setbacks during his recovery he will miss anywhere between 6-12 games at the minimum this season. That’s not a good projection from a potential third-round pick, by any stretch of the imagination.
When healthy though, Rajon has proven that he is capable of being a Top-5 assist producer as well as an excellent source of steals for fantasy teams. Add to that his better than average field-goal percentage and rebounding numbers among point guards and you’ve got yourself a solid second tier PG. Again, that’s when he’s healthy.
Rondo should be bumped down rankings by a reasonable amount, making him a calculated risk between the fifth or sixth rounds. Now here is where a dilemma rears its ugly head. If the draft system being useed does not adjust the rankings, an absentee manager on draft night will likely find himself as the not-so-proud owner of an early autopicked Rajon Rondo. Regardless, the situation should not tempt you in rolling the dice. It’s been a while since he’s played 70 games or more. We’re talking way back in 2009-10. Yes, that long. Considering he’s averaged just 48 games played over the last four seasons, he should be labeled as an injury-prone player. Bottomline, gamble on him in the middle rounds at your own risk. You’ve been warned.
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