Fantasy Basketball: Derrick Rose Injury Fallout

What do we do with the Derrick Rose injury in fantasy basketball?

By now you have probably heard about Derrick Rose’s meniscus injury to the same knee that caused him to miss the remainder of the 2013-14 NBA season. This is a really tough blow to Rose and the entire Bulls organization as they really had some pieces to contend for a title this season. This is also an equally tough blow for fantasy owners of Derrick Rose as he was just beginning to blow the rust off and put up some pretty decent numbers for your fantasy team.

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As always, we here at Fantasy CPR want to give you an idea of what we think will happen with the minutes and the stats that Rose was putting up for the Bulls and where we think that the slack will be made up. This year the Bulls are in a little better spot to deal with the loss of Rose than ever before with the addition of Pau Gasol and the emergence of Jimmy Butler. I expect the bulk of the ball handling and offensive duties to fall to Gasol and Butler. Aaron Brooks should step in and see roughly 30-36 minutes a game as the starting point guard. I also expect Joakim Noah to see a slight spike in offensive numbers and assists as well. I don’t expect Noah to see the numbers he was putting up in Rose’s absence last season. I like Aaron Brooks as a must-add across all fantasy formats, but I do want to caution you to temper your expectations. In prior years D.J. Augustin and Nate Robinson put up some pretty gaudy stats in Rose’s absences, but with Gasol and Butler I don’t expect the same amount of usage and touches to come now for the back-up PG.

I would also say as a word of caution that the Bulls already were looking to add a bought-out player to the back-court to help in the off-guard position, and now they will probably also be looking to add someone else to help with the PG duties, especially as the durability of Kirk Hinrich has been somewhat foggy over the last few weeks.

I want to think, and maybe this is just the Bulls fan in me, that maybe Nikola Mirotic could see some extra and more steady minutes in the wake of this injury, although the injury does nothing to thin out the crowded front-court problems that the Bulls have. I just think that the offensive weapon that Mirotic is already showing some promise of may be too bright to ignore.

As much as I like Butler and Gasol’s value going forward, I would not go out and try to trade for them right now as their value will likely be though the roof. Everyone knows how the Bulls will rely on these two from Rose’s eight game siesta due to ankle/hamstring problems earlier this season.

As for Derrick Rose himself, almost everyone is counting him out and this is even before the severity of the injury is known. I am an optimist and hoping for the best for Rose, and there is a chance you could trade for him in a dynasty or keeper league for literally pennies on the dollar. This is not a suggested move, but if you are a riverboat gambler type of fantasy owner, Rose could be able to overcome this injury it could pay off down the road. The risk here is huge, and I would not send off a keeper quality player whatsoever. But if I could move a very low-level player who is producing 10th/11th round value I might consider that if it did not hamper my ability to pursue the league championship.

As always, I beg you to watch the minutes and touches distribution of the Bulls first few games and maybe even longer as this will almost certainly have a mental effect on the team and how they respond to this damaging blow. If you have any questions please feel free to hit me up on Twitter @davefuqua by following me at the link above.

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