Fantasy Basketball: Options to replace Kyrie Irving in your fantasy line up

According to Justin Grasso of Sports Illustrated, Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving is expected to have season ending surgery on his right shoulder. The procedure will end his season after only 20 games.

Irving has missed at least 15 games in a season in six of his nine seasons in the NBA. Irving has played in 528 of a possible 722 Games during his NBA career. That means he has played in 73% of his team’s games.

Unfortunately for Irving’s owners (including myself) that is the risk you take when you draft him. The production is off the charts but there’s a good chance you won’t get a full season out of him and fantasy owners once again didn’t.

So, where do you go from here. The point production won’t be the same but there are some quality options out there.

Here are some players that are widely available on the waiver wire.

(Ownership based on ESPN Fantasy. It could vary in other formats.)

Caris LeVert, SG/SF, Nets, 72.7% owned: LeVert will benefit the most from Irving’s absence. He is a high volume shooter and scorer who averages 15.6 points per game. LeVert plays about 27.6 minutes per game but expect that number to go up now that he is starting.

Elfrid Payton, PG, Knicks, 65.5% owned: Payton is averaging 15.1 points per game in standard formats. He plays 27.5 minutes per game so he plays enough minutes that he could be an adequate replacement. Payton only averages 9.7 points per game but also dishes out 6.9 assists and grabs 4.7 rebounds per game.

Joe Harris, SG/SF, Nets, 54.8% owned: Harris starts at shooting guard for the Nets. He averages 13.8 points per game and has been shooting 47.2% from behind the arc for the month of February. Although he has gone cold of late, the three ball is what makes Harris an attractive fantasy option.

Markelle Fultz, PG, Magic, 49.8% owned: Fultz is wildly inconsistent but he is good for a big scoring night from a fantasy standpoint at least once a week. If you can stomach the ups and downs with him, he could be a quality second or third point guard on your roster.

Marcus Smart, PG/SG, Celtics, 48.4% owned: Smart has an injury history of his own and he is not a primary scorer for the Celtics. Despite that, he averages 12.5 points per game and takes more shots than you think. His cross category production is decent but not great considering he averages 31.6 minutes per game.

Goran Dragic, PG, Heat, 64.9% owned: If Dragic we’re still a starter, he wouldn’t be available. What hurts his fantasy value is that he comes off the bench. Despite that, he averages 15.1 points per game over 28 minutes a night. His scoring to playing time ratio is good which makes him a viable option if you are looking for a replacement for Kyrie.

Tim Hardaway Jr. SG/SF, Mavericks, 42.9% owned: Hardaway Jr is a widely available and is a sound pick up because he averages 14.8 points over 27.4 minutes of playing time. He shoots 40% from behind the arc which is perhaps the most appealing aspect of his game.

Tomas Satoransky, PG/SG, Bulls, 40.1% owned: Satoransky is benefitting from the fact that the Bulls best player, Lauri Markennen is out and he is getting more playing time. Satoransky’s stat line of 10.3 Points per game, 5.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game make him an attractive short term option. He is averaging 14 points per game in standard fantasy scoring and is a quality DFS play as well on most nights.

Seth Curry, PG, Mavericks, 20.5% owned: Seth has emerged from his brother’s shadow and carved out a nice season for himself in Dallas. Curry has scored 26, 15 and 18 points in his last three games. He is averaging 11.5 points per game in 23 minutes of action. He is shooting 43.7% from three. That makes Curry attractive because he can score in bunches. Curry is more attractive in 12 team leagues than 10 team leagues. There are better options in ten team leagues.

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