Fantasy Spin: LaMarcus Aldridge Injures Hip, X-Rays Looming

I'll admit it, but I was wrong about LaMarcus Aldridge.

During my preseason analysis I had Aldridge listed among those who would not give adequate return on investment, based on his average draft position (ADP). My analysis about Aldridge spoke to the fact that the Blazers were looking loaded up front with Aldridge, Marcus Camby and Greg Oden all in the mix for minutes at two positions. I also don't like the fact that Aldridge provides limited numbers on the defensive side of the ball.

Naturally, Aldridge is playing a career-best 39 minutes per game, while averaging career highs in shot attempts, points, rebounds and tied for career highs in assists, steals and blocks. I'll give Aldridge a nice tip of the hat, however we do have to acknowledge the many injuries which have opened up more opportunities for him.

Now, however, Aldridge has a bit of a problem on his hands.

On Monday night Aldridge re-aggravated his sore hip against the Kings, and now we're learning that he is going to have X-rays taken on said hip. Add him to the list of banged up Blazers.

Aldridge scored just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting, the first time since Dec. 5 when Aldridge failed to drop double-digit scoring totals in a game.

The big problem with an Aldridge injury, should he miss any time, is that there is no player off that bench worth adding to replace him. The Blazers absolutely need Aldridge. They are without Brandon Roy, Oden and Camby, and are stuck playing Joel Przybilla and Dante Cunningham significant minutes. Believe it or not, the player who gets the biggest bump off the bench is Sean Marks. Yes, the same Sean Marks who is averaging 1.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

While we still don't know what may come of Aldridge's bum hip, we do know that both the Blazers and fantasy owners alike are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that they don't have to even entertain the thought of playing Sean Marks.