Things were going too well. LaMelo Ball sits just outside the top-30 in the 9-cat rankings but has been pumping out the gaudy stat lines we’ve been hoping to see from him over the last two seasons, even if a few flies in the ointment are keeping his ranking lower than it should be. Still, at this point, managers were just happy to see Ball clocking in for work every night after two disastrous, injury-riddled campaigns.

On Saturday morning, news broke that Ball would miss at least two weeks with a left calf strain. The Hornets’ injury reporting practices are shaky at best, so there isn’t much to do but hope that Ball is actually able to make a standard recovery. The last couple years have seen him sidelined indefinitely, with a timeline that keeps getting pushed back and back and back until the clock runs out.

As for the remaining Hornets, Vasilije Micic will be the guy to target, almost by default. Tre Mann is going to miss at least a couple more weeks himself with a back issue, and while Micic isn’t going to be a big overall producer, he’ll have enough assists to matter in most leagues. Usage-wise it’s going to be a bit of a free-for-all. Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges are obviously already rostered everywhere, but we could see someone like Tidjane Salaun or Josh Green pushed into more shots. Deep-league GMs can also keep an eye on someone like Seth Curry or Nick Smith Jr. It’s not a great set of circumstances.

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