Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Ekpe Udoh to Undergo Wrist Surgery, Miss 4-6 Months

Ekpe Udoh will undergo surgery on his left wrist on Wednesday due to a torn ligament. He'll miss 4-6 months.

The Breakdown
Udoh was a nice sleeper pick going into next year because his athleticism fits so well in the Warriors' offense and because the trade of Anthony Randolph cleared some potential playing time for him. Unfortunately, this surgery will cause Udoh to miss all of training camp and possibly the first 2 months of the season. Even if he was healthy, I wouldn't recommend drafting Udoh in a standard league because Don Nelson's rotations are too crazy and he generally doesn't like to play rookies. Now that he's going to miss some time, you definitely only want to take a chance on Udoh in a very deep league where you can stash him on injured reserve.

Because he'll miss training camp, it may take him a long time to get into the rotation when he is fully healthy as he'll have so much to learn in practice. If he misses the full 6 months, I honestly doubt he makes an impact in fantasy this year until the last couple of months of the season, if at all. Again, if you're in a deep league with injured reserve slots and want to gamble, you might wanna look at Udoh. If your gamble pays off, Udoh will be an awesome shot blocker and rebounder who could give your team that extra production you need in the playoffs.

No comments: