Year of Breaks
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:40 am
In the first SIM, we have 5 players with breaks (foot, leg, arm). I am going to analyze each of these injuries from impact short term and long term. I will update this post as more breaks happen.
Player: Danny Fortson
Position: PF
Team: Magic
Injury: Broken Leg
Length: 95 days
Although a 30 year old O/O player, Danny Fortson is more important to this team than can be expected. This team has only 9 players. Danny was getting approximately 20 minutes per game acting as the primary backup for the C/PF position. Although coltsguy hasn't entered a depth chart for either sim up to this point, so it may be on recommended to figure out the issue. Long term impact might not be too detrimental, because the Magic are missing talent down low and are not anticipated to make a push for a playoff spot this year. Danny's contract ends after this season, so if he took a hit in his ratings, that will not have an effect on the magic in future years.
Player: Anthony Carter
Position: PG
Team: Celtics
Injury: Broken Foot
Length: 63 days
With both Rafer Alsten and Steve Francis on this team, Carter was the third option at point guard. He does provide some nice natural floor general skills as well as some solid defense. However, Carter lost a lot of quickness in his age. His impact will be minimal with a team built with so much depth, especially at the point guard position. On a minimum contract for this year only, expect this injury to have no impact at all for this eastern conference contender.
Player: Shawn Marion
Position: SF
Team: Kings
Injury: Broken Arm
Length: 40 days
The biggest name impacted by the broken bug this year is Marion. As a main contributor to the defending champions, his impact will be much more serious than the first to players we observed. Sacramento has some pretty good depth with the likes of Shaun Livingston and Luol Deng being able to step in and provide similar offensive production. The drop off comes in the other aspects of the game. Marion is a terrific rebounder that has good abilities guard players both inside and outside. Add in the terrific rating in steals, Marion's production will not be able to be matched by these two players. His injury provides a weakness defensively at that position going forward. Luckily, the Kings have enough fire power to maintain a good record for these 40 days. Long term, Marion is on the last year of a contract. He will most likely garner a max contract from some team next year, but the team should analyze his age for the length of his contract.
Player: Jose Calderon
Position: PG
Team: Grizzlies
Injury: Broken Foot
Length: 35 days
Year two of Calderon's NBA career and he already has a break. This is not a good sign. Hopefully, this injury is a fluke and he does not present as an injury prone player. The Grizzlies have good depth at point guard. The veteran Antonio Daniels has a very similar skill set to Calderon and will step in nicely as his replacement. The team loses some 3 point ability with Daniels. To backup Daniels, the team has rookie Kyle Lowry, who still needs some development. Expect some dropoff for this team, but without any lofty expectations for the year, the team will flounder about the same with or without Calderon.
Player: Renaldo Balkman
Position: SF
Team: Heat
Injury: Broken Arm
Length: 32
Whats worse than a break in year two of your career? A break as a rookie. Renaldo Balkman got injured in his 3rd regular season game as a professional. He primarily backs up Lebron James at the small forward. The Heat are very thin at this position. Already having added another player, the dropoff is still significant. Balkman brought some decent quickness and rebounding with a high propensity to get a steal. Ebi is below average at basically everything, except he matches and surpasses Balkman's quickness. the good thing for the Heat is that this is a backup for James, who plays 40+ minutes per game. Don't expect a large dropoff in production from this team. Long term, Balkman can develop into a solid backup player that could be a serious contributor, so Miami better hope he does not continue to get big injuries in the future.
Player: Danny Fortson
Position: PF
Team: Magic
Injury: Broken Leg
Length: 95 days
Although a 30 year old O/O player, Danny Fortson is more important to this team than can be expected. This team has only 9 players. Danny was getting approximately 20 minutes per game acting as the primary backup for the C/PF position. Although coltsguy hasn't entered a depth chart for either sim up to this point, so it may be on recommended to figure out the issue. Long term impact might not be too detrimental, because the Magic are missing talent down low and are not anticipated to make a push for a playoff spot this year. Danny's contract ends after this season, so if he took a hit in his ratings, that will not have an effect on the magic in future years.
Player: Anthony Carter
Position: PG
Team: Celtics
Injury: Broken Foot
Length: 63 days
With both Rafer Alsten and Steve Francis on this team, Carter was the third option at point guard. He does provide some nice natural floor general skills as well as some solid defense. However, Carter lost a lot of quickness in his age. His impact will be minimal with a team built with so much depth, especially at the point guard position. On a minimum contract for this year only, expect this injury to have no impact at all for this eastern conference contender.
Player: Shawn Marion
Position: SF
Team: Kings
Injury: Broken Arm
Length: 40 days
The biggest name impacted by the broken bug this year is Marion. As a main contributor to the defending champions, his impact will be much more serious than the first to players we observed. Sacramento has some pretty good depth with the likes of Shaun Livingston and Luol Deng being able to step in and provide similar offensive production. The drop off comes in the other aspects of the game. Marion is a terrific rebounder that has good abilities guard players both inside and outside. Add in the terrific rating in steals, Marion's production will not be able to be matched by these two players. His injury provides a weakness defensively at that position going forward. Luckily, the Kings have enough fire power to maintain a good record for these 40 days. Long term, Marion is on the last year of a contract. He will most likely garner a max contract from some team next year, but the team should analyze his age for the length of his contract.
Player: Jose Calderon
Position: PG
Team: Grizzlies
Injury: Broken Foot
Length: 35 days
Year two of Calderon's NBA career and he already has a break. This is not a good sign. Hopefully, this injury is a fluke and he does not present as an injury prone player. The Grizzlies have good depth at point guard. The veteran Antonio Daniels has a very similar skill set to Calderon and will step in nicely as his replacement. The team loses some 3 point ability with Daniels. To backup Daniels, the team has rookie Kyle Lowry, who still needs some development. Expect some dropoff for this team, but without any lofty expectations for the year, the team will flounder about the same with or without Calderon.
Player: Renaldo Balkman
Position: SF
Team: Heat
Injury: Broken Arm
Length: 32
Whats worse than a break in year two of your career? A break as a rookie. Renaldo Balkman got injured in his 3rd regular season game as a professional. He primarily backs up Lebron James at the small forward. The Heat are very thin at this position. Already having added another player, the dropoff is still significant. Balkman brought some decent quickness and rebounding with a high propensity to get a steal. Ebi is below average at basically everything, except he matches and surpasses Balkman's quickness. the good thing for the Heat is that this is a backup for James, who plays 40+ minutes per game. Don't expect a large dropoff in production from this team. Long term, Balkman can develop into a solid backup player that could be a serious contributor, so Miami better hope he does not continue to get big injuries in the future.
