What does Jimmy Butler’s meniscus injury mean for fantasy basketball owners?
A meniscus tear will sideline Jimmy Butler for the next 4 to 6 weeks, which puts his fantasy basketball owners in a bind.
When Jimmy Butler went down with a non-contact knee injury Friday night against the Houston Rockets, fears of a torn ACL quickly emerged. On Saturday, the Minnesota Timberwolves thankfully confirmed Butler had avoided an ACL injury, but according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, he’s likely to miss the next 4 to 6 weeks after he undergoes surgery to repair the torn meniscus he suffered.
That timetable is bad news bears for fantasy basketball owners whose playoffs don’t stretch until the final day of the regular season.
In standard ESPN.com leagues, there are two more weeks of regular-season matchups remaining before the postseason begins. If your league has one-week playoff matchups, that means Butler likely won’t return until your fantasy finals (at the earliest). Unless you have an open IR spot on your roster, that makes Butler droppable in all redraft formats, as you can’t be certain that he’ll be of use to you throughout your playoffs.
Owners in keeper and dynasty formats have a more difficult decision on their hands. If keeping Butler will cost you a middle- or late-round pick next season, you should continue burning the roster spot on him, even if it costs you a championship this season. The positive return on draft investment is too great to ignore. But if you’ll lose a first- or second-round pick by keeping Butler, you should be open to the possibility of cutting him loose, particularly if there’s a high-ceiling option still available on your waiver wire.
With Butler out for the foreseeable future, Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson all receive a considerable boost heading into the stretch run. Butler led the Timberwolves in points (22.2) and field-goal attempts (15.8) per game, which means Minnesota’s four remaining starters must shoulder more offensive responsibilities. Towns is already churning out top-five value on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues, so you’d have to pry him from his owner’s cold, dead hands at this point, but both Gibson and Teague could be top-50 values moving forward.
For Wiggins owners, meanwhile, this could be your last sell-high opportunity.
In Minnesota’s first game sans Butler, Wiggins finished with 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting, two rebounds, two assists, two triples one steal and one block in 35 minutes against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. With Butler out, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Wiggins’ scoring volume rise back toward the 23.6 points per game he averaged last season, but his lack of ancillary contributions make him a mediocre fantasy asset. After all, he’s the 170th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues heading into Sunday. If you can convince a fellow owner that Wiggins is ticketed for a bigger role in Butler’s absence and can pry away a lesser scorer (but better all-around fantasy asset) such as Trevor Ariza or Robert Covington, don’t hesitate to do so.
Outside of Towns, Teague, Wiggins and Gibson, Nemanja Bjelica appears to be Minnesota’s other biggest fantasy riser with Butler out. He slid into the starting lineup Saturday against Chicago and finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists and a 3-pointer in 33 minutes. Considering the Serbian big man hadn’t topped the 30-minute mark since late January, he’s worth a speculative pickup, but fantasy owners should keep their expectations in check. Whereas Butler was a primary option on offense for the T-Wolves, Bjelica will mostly be an afterthought.
Outside of Bjelica, Jamal Crawford may get a minor boost in playing time as well, but he’s nothing more than a scoring and 3-point specialist for fantasy owners in 12-team formats or deeper. In theory, the Wolves could move Shabazz Muhammad back into their rotation as well, but he remained inactive against Chicago on Saturday. If you’re looking for a Minnesota pickup in the wake of Butler’s injury, Bjelica is your guy assuming Gibson (owned in 78.0 percent of ESPN.com leagues) is unavailable. You’d be better off attempting to pry Teague away from a fellow leaguemate, though.
All ownership percentages via ESPN.com. All average draft position info via FantasyPros. All rankings via Basketball Monster are based on nine-category leagues and are current heading into Sunday, Feb. 25.