Mike Conley's injury spells trouble for Grizzlies' fantasy outlook

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Here are the fantasy implications following the news that Memphis Grizzlies PG Mike Conley will be out indefinitely with a back injury:

Michael Wallace of the Grizzlies' team site confirms the injury, adding that Conley is expected to miss six weeks and will be re-evaluated after the first month.

Memphis has already played much of the season without a key contributor in SF Chandler Parsons; losing Conley throws the team's entire rotation into disarray while putting even more pressure on the team's aging rotation to log heavy minutes. This really doesn't bode well for anyone's fantasy outlook.

Conley owners need to hold onto him in all leagues that feature injured player slots. Until his recovery timeline changes, he should be held onto in leagues without INJ slots, as well.

In Conley's absence, lead point guard duties will fall to rookies Wade Baldwin and Andrew Harrison. Before falling out of the rotation, Baldwin averaged 4.3 points, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 20.9 minutes per game through six games.

Harrison hasn't been much better, but at least he has played on 114 actual in-game possessions (per nbawowy) alongside core front court players Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph; Baldwin has only seen 28 such possessions. That might give a clue as to which rookie coach David Fizdale turns to first.

Still, neither player is shooting better than 21.7 percent on 3-pointers, both have been net-negative defenders, and neither has shown touch as a passer yet. Neither is worth owning in season-long fantasy.

The Grizzlies will have to ride Gasol hard if they hope to stay at or above .500 in the wide-open Western Conference. Gasol is already taking a career-high 15.4 shots per game (leading to a career-high 18.0 points per game) but he's playing the fewest minutes since 2010-11.

The shift in philosophy under Fizdale has the Spaniard playing further from the hoop than ever before. Gasol is third in the league in touches at the elbow (the top corners on either side of the key) which puts him in position to set up teammates with his passing or drift out to the edge to shoot threes.

While Gasol's 1.5 3-pointers per game has been a revelation, it has come with a drop in offensive-rebounding opportunities, which has contributed to a career-low 5.6 rebounds per game.

Gasol's mid-career transformation might become even more pronounced now that there is such a profound need for both outside shooting and playmaking. While diversification is usually welcomed, it's hard not to pine for the days of 18/8 averages and close to 50 percent shooting from the big. Sweeping changes of this nature feel like they're doomed to bring diminished returns.

Daily Fantasy

Other than Gasol, look for fringe fantasy options to see increased minutes and shot opportunities - at least until Parsons returns. The front court rotation is still set, so it's unlikely Randolph or PF JaMychal Green find a way to fill in for Conley's lost production.

Two months shy of his 40th birthday, don't expect much of an uptick from half-man, half-amazing, mostly-just-very-old SG Vince Carter, but he could be a low-end cash game option against slower teams. The same can be said for SF James Ennis, though he has shown more as a rebounder on the wing than as a scoring threat. Tony Allen is a career 28 percent 3-point shooter.

Ultimately, the only obvious tournament option to come from the immediate fallout of Conley's injury is whichever point guard Fizdale decides to state. The inside track is probably Harrison at this point. Last year, Conley missed a handful of games which allowed retread Briante Weber to go from 10-day contract to tournament value in a span of days. That's all you can hope for.

Waiver Targets

• PG Matthew Dellavadova, Bucks: If you simply need to replace Conley's assists, Dellavedova is your best option. His 6.3 APG actually out-paces Conley's 5.7. Unfortunately, he doesn't offer much else.

• PG Jerryd Bayless, 76ers: Bayless has been out with a short-term injury but presents the most upside of the widely-available free agent options. He's already averaging 11/4/4 in nearly 24 minutes per game since debuting for the 76ers. If he can develop chemistry with Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in the post, expect his assists to rise steadily.

• PG Ty Lawson, Kings: Lawson lost his lead job when Darren Collison returned from suspension but he still has a role with the Kings, playing 23.4 minutes over his last 10 games while averaging 8.2 points, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals. The fact that he hasn't completely fallen out of the rotation is a sign that he's still valued to someone close to the team.