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Fantasy Basketball 2019: Top Replacements for Victor Oladipo After Knee Injury

Timothy Rapp

The Indiana Pacers and Victor Oladipo received devastating news on Thursday when it was announced the star shooting guard suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee and is out for the season.

It's a huge hit for a Pacers team with postseason aspirations, but it will also leave fantasy basketball players scrambling to find replacement options for Oladipo. 

While Oladipo wasn't having an elite fantasy season—he ranked 31st amongst shooting guards on ESPN's Player Rater this season—he was still an excellent offensive weapon for Indiana and will leave a hole for fantasy teams. So, how do you replace him?

Let's go over some options. 

                

Tyreke Evans, SG, and Darren Collison, PG, Indiana Pacers

If you go the route of replacing Oladipo with a player on the Pacers, Evans and Collision seem like the best bets. 

Evans is intriguing based on what he's proven capable of in the past—namely, averaging 19.4 PPG, 5.2 APG and 5.1 RPG last season for the Memphis Grizzlies in 52 games, shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 39.9 percent from three and 78.5 percent from the line. 

While Indiana's system is obviously different than what Memphis ran, Evans is capable of producing excellent numbers and should see his role somewhat expand with Oladipo done for the year. With more minutes and a more pronounced role, Evans could pay dividends for fantasy players.

And he's only owned in 28.6 percent of ESPN leagues, so he'll likely be available. 

Collison, meanwhile, has already been a decent option for fantasy players this season, ranking 71st overall in ESPN's Player Rater. Like Evans, he should see his general usage increase, and while his floor is higher than Evans given his more pronounced role on the Pacers, his ceiling probably isn't much higher than what he's already producing (9.7 PPG, 5.7 APG). 

Still, he's a solid stopgap who is currently owned in just 51.6 percent of ESPN leagues.

              

Justin Holiday, SG/SF, Memphis Grizzlies

Holiday has an opportunity to be one of the better values in fantasy basketball by the end of the season, ranking 69th overall on ESPN's Player Rater while being owned in just 17.5 percent of ESPN leagues.

Holiday is averaging 10.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.7 SPG and is making 2.2 threes per game this season, though those numbers are somewhat misleading, as he played far better in Chicago (11.6 PPG) than he has in Memphis (5.9 PPG). 

Dillon Brooks' injury means Holiday has already seen his role grow, however, as he's averaging 35.9 MPG and 9.8 PPG in his past four games, an indication that he's going to see serious run the rest of the year.

Plus, the Grizzlies are reportedly open to hearing offers on Mike Conley Jr. and Marc Gasol, and if they go into tanking mode, more shots could be available to Holiday, who thrived in Chicago this season under similar circumstances. 

Yes, there are a lot of factors to consider with Holiday, but he's worth a speculative add.

                        

Danny Green, SG/SF, Toronto Raptors

Green may frustrate you at times with his scoring output (9.9 PPG), but he'll offer positional relief and solid overall production in place of Oladipo. 

The Raptors wing is 76th on ESPN's Player Rater and owned in only 22.9 percent of ESPN leagues while posting 4.2 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.8 BPG and 2.3 made threes per contest. Green isn't a flashy option, but you could do worse.   

   

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