Rudy Gay's season-ending injury leaves Kings, fantasy owners with few options

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Here are the fantasy implications following the news that Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay has allegedly torn his Achilles:

This is a major blow to Gay's owners, who had enjoyed a resurgent 19-6-3 season out of the Kings' forward. Combined with improved shooting efficiency and consistent defensive contributions, Gay produced like a top-60 player when healthy. His loss leaves the Kings and fantasy owners alike scrambling.

There's now a 34-minute per game hole to fill in the middle of the Kings' rotation. Per nbawowy!, the top three front-court units without Gay each include DeMarcus Cousins at center, with two of Matt Barnes, Kosta Koufos, Anthony Tolliver and Arron Afflalo.

There's no obvious recipient of Gay's workload among that group. Barnes has averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 12 starts this season. Tolliver has come on strong of late, averaging 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds with 38.5% 3-point shooting in five starts. Without the gravity of Gay's offense drawing defense pressure, it's unlikely either player amounts to more than a short-term streaming option and daily fantasy plays.

What's more likely is that the Kings -- just 1.5 games back from the eighth seed in the Western Conference -- make a small move ahead of the trade deadline to add some depth while force-feeding the ball to Cousins. If that's the case, expect Boogie's usage rate to rise even higher, even if being the sole target of the defense causes his efficiency numbers to drop. His overall fantasy stock should remain largely unchanged.

In summary, drop Gay and don't bother with any of the Kings' internal options for now. Make a "Godfather offer" for Cousins if you're on the outskirts of playoff contention in your league; worst-case scenario is missing the playoffs anyway, but the upside is riding a wave of superhuman Boogie performances to your fantasy playoffs. Stranger things have happened.

Waiver Wire Options

• SF/PF Dario Saric, 76ers: The 76ers' other frontcourt rookie doesn't make the highlight reel as often as Joel Embiid, but Saric continues to be groomed for the stretch-four role currently occupied by Ersan Ilyasova. He's playing close to 25 MPG over his last 11 games, scoring in double-figures on six occasions. Of the waiver options, he has the best upside.

• SG/SF Evan Turner, Trail Blazers: After a horrendous start to his season, Turner is looking more like the Swiss Army knife-player we know and love (and hate). Over his past 12 games, the Blazers' wing has recorded averages close to 10-4-4 with a steal and half a block per game.

• SG/SF P.J. Tucker, Suns: If you squint, some of Tucker's stats are pretty close to Gay's: over his last 13 games, the veteran wing has averaged 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He's never going to be a 20 PPG scorer, but that type of player isn't going to be found on the waiver wire anyway.