Danilo Gallinari: Fantasy Basketball Update

Danilo Gallinari is expected to miss ‘significant time according to a report from ESPN.com. Gallinari says that this sprain is worse than the one he had two months ago. He sat out six games for that sprain and he is expected to get an MRI to determine just how bad the injury was. Gallinari was spotted leaving the arena with a walking boot on so it is safe to say that he will probably miss more than that.

With only a few weeks of regular season play left in most leagues that will leave fantasy owners with a very tough decision. If you have a safe spot in your league’s playoffs you might be able to hang on and see just how long Gallinari is going to be sidelined, but if your team is on the bubble you may be forced to cut Gallinari and move on with life.

If you do indeed cut Gallinari you might be able to find some help right there on the Nuggets roster. Will Barton is a guy who comes to mind that is probably going to benefit with the absence of Gallinari. He is probably owned in almost all leagues, but I did find him on the wire in a fairly competitive standard sized league that I am in.

Gary Harris will also see some increased run and is probably worth a speculative add in most leagues if you have some dead weight that you can let go. Harris is only owned in 20.5% of ESPN.com standard leagues and could likely be available to add to your team.

I also think the Darrell Arthur in larger leagues. He will most likely see a nice minutes increase and could be an overall nice addition in large leagues with 12 teams or more. I would expect to see Kenneth Faried also step up in the absence of Gallinari as Faried has a habit of rounding out the season in a strong fashion anyway.

As for Danilo Gallinari’s value in keeper and dynasty leagues I see this as a buying opportunity, but it is kind of like buying a mildly beat up used car. Let me be one of the many to raise the yellow flag here and just issue a word of caution. I realize that Gallinari is still fairly young, but he has had a pretty large share of injuries and just can rarely seem to be a go to type of guy for a fantasy team. If I was buying him for any of those types of leagues my offer might be mildly insulting to his owner so I would probably just pass. It is rarely worth ruining the relationships with your league over being a cheap skate.

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So all in all I would be careful if I was buying Gallinari in a keeper or dynasty format and if I needed to make the playoffs in a re-draft league he would already be on the waiver wire.

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