Kevin Martin: Epic Frail?

Written by Erik

Thursday, 05 November 2009 21:49

kevin martin drive Kevin Martin, SG of the Sacramento Kings, has a hairline fracture in his left wrist. It is still unclear as to how treatment for the injury will proceed. We should learn more in the days to come. It was unfortunate that this should happen this early in the season, or at all for that matter. Kevin is the Kings' leading scorer and has averaged 30.6 PPG; 5.4 RPG; 2.6 APG; 3.4 3PPG; 2.0 SPG; 1.4 TO over the first five games of the season. As one of the "Fantasy Lords" of FT% and scoring, he will be sorely missed by his owners should he miss a considerable amount of time. Oh yeah, so will the Sacramento Kings.

Kevin is already notorious for being injury prone, coming into this fantasy season. He missed 31 games last season and 21 games the season before that. This injury simply validates his frail status and cements him as a perennial injury-risky fantasy draft pick.

His claims in the pre-season that he will "try" to stay healthy did not boost my confidence in him at all. Frankly, injuries are something that players really have little to no control over. They can avoid contact a bit more, but that's as far as it goes. Contact or even accidental sprains and bad landings are just part of the game. Regardless of how high these players jump or how long they can stay up in the air, gravity will always have something contradictory to say about the matter. It's all part of the game. These things happen. It's just unfortunate that these things seem to happen to some players more often than others. Marcus Camby, Baron Davis, and Tracy McGrady, are a few other names on that list of players that Kevin Martin has now officially joined.

If Martin should end up missing time due to this injury, expect Tyreke Evans to slide into the starting SG slot and Beno Udrih to start at PG. Evans and the Kings' young frontcourt of Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson should end up being the primary fantasy beneficiaries of Kev-Mart's absence. Tyreke has had an erratic start in his rookie season, having his ups and downs, good games and bad games; which can be expected from rookies. He will need to "fast-forward" his development

Andres Nocioni should also benefit, but he celebrated his start for the Kings a little bit too much and was arrested in downtown for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. The NBA has shown that it does not take these incidents very lightly and he will likely be suspended for a few games without pay. He already apologized to his team, the city, and the fans for his lapse in judgement; but I doubt that a pat on the wrist will be in his future.Once he returns, he should be able to contribute to your fantasy teams. Hold on to him for now.

Omri Casspi should see some quality minutes during Nocioni's expected suspension period. He showed signs of fantasy viability in the Kings' game against the Memphis Grizzlies last November 2nd. He scored 15 points, hit three treys, blocked two shots, and had two steals in that outing. Keep him on your watchlist if you are playing in a deep league.

In the meantime, Evans, Hawes and Thompson's fantasy stocks should all rise as they step-up to fill the scoring void left by Kevin.