Not to take pleasure in another man’s suffering… but for players scouring the waiver wire, the best injuries are the ones that end some poor guy’s season.
Think about it. When Elton Brand’s injury was announced, you knew you could pick up a Thaddeus Young or Mareese Speights and get value from him for the rest of the year. When Michael Redd tore up his knee, the run on Ramon Sessions looked like Toys R Us at Christmas. But with Andrew Bynum or Jameer Nelson or Andrew Bogut – even Carlos Boozer or Gilbert Arenas, you don’t have that certainty. There’s a good chance they won’t play again this season, but you just don’t know. If you’re holding ‘em, you can’t really drop ‘em. You might get value out of their understudies, but you don’t know how long it’ll last.
As the season goes on, more and more injuries will be declared “season-ending.” Pay special attention to those announcements; they’ll give you a good idea of who you can safely drop and which injury replacements will have the most value.
Case in point, with Al Jefferson done for the year, a guy like Ryan Gomes becomes much more valuable than the variety of players who might fill in for Jason Terry for the next several weeks.
via NBA.com: Waiver Wire: Watch Those Injuries Closely.
