Giannis Antetokounmpo Suffers Calf Injury: Fantasy Basketball Impact and Outlook

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been at the heart of trade rumors all season, but he is trending for a different reason now. He suffered another right calf injury, something he's dealt with over the past couple seasons.

Let's discuss what the injury means in the real world and for fantasy basketball purposes.

Check out fantasy basketball injury news on FantasySP all season.

Antetokounmpo's Stats and Fantasy Value

Antetokounmpo is one of the top players in the league, so not having him on the court is a bummer for NBA fans and fantasy owners.

He is averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks over 29.2 minutes a game. Antetokounmpo is shooting 64.5% overall and he's 39.5% from 3-point land - he's 65.8% from the free-throw line as well.

In 30 games, Antetokounmpo has 17 double-doubles. He's scored over 20 points in all but three games, with 30 or more points in 15 contests. Antetokounmpo has 10 or more rebounds on 15 occasions, and has been over 10 assists twice. He has a steal in 20 games and a block in 15.

Antetokounmpo sits fourth on the FantasySP Trade Value Chart, so he's clearly one of the top fantasy players around. He'd have been even higher than that if not missing a bunch of games earlier in the season.

This injury is expected to keep him out 4-6 weeks, which will be a devastating blow to his fantasy value and the Bucks' chances of making a playoff push.

How to Approach Antetokounmpo 

Antetokounmpo is too good of a fantasy player to ever drop. The only time you'd ever drop him is if he was expected to miss nearly the rest of the season.

Hopefully, you can stash him in an injured reserve spot, because he's not going to be able to help your fantasy team for a long time. 

You could look to flip him for someone who can help you now, but don't expect to get an elite return. Essentially, you will be selling Antetokounmpo low, but that might be the only thing some can do to stay competitive with him out of the picture for several weeks.

Assess your team and make the best decision for your team. There's no clear cut way to approach Antetokounmpo right now.

Fantasy owners who can withstand not having the superstar for several weeks should either stash him on the bench/IR or look into acquiring him. There's risk involved since Antetokounmpo has been hurt a couple times, but he's elite when he's out there, and those are the types of players who can take you over the edge.

Outlook for the Bucks

The injury to Antetokounmpo is devastating to the Bucks. They are fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament right now, and having their star out isn't going to help matters.

There's a very good chance that the Bucks miss the playoffs entirely now. The injury to Antetokounmpo also gives the team an opportunity to trade their star, as he's already been heavily involved in trade talks.

Milwaukee is also without Kevin Porter Jr. for an extended period of time, and have been without Taurean Prince for a long time too. Things have been ugly for the Bucks, and it's going to get even worse now.

With Antetokounmpo, Porter and others out, I'd look to the likes of Ryan Rollins, AJ Green, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma, Gary Trent Jr. and Bobby Portis to pick up some of the slack. There's no replacing Antetokounmpo though.

Cole Anthony and Portis are the only two Bucks on the waiver wire list today. Keep checking that page to see which Milwaukee players are being added in Antetokounmpo's absence. 

The guys directly seeing more minutes with Antetokounmpo out will be Turner, Portis, Kuzma and Jericho Sims. 

I think Portis is the guy to be adding today, with Kuzma and Sims being deep-league adds. Keep an eye on the team's box scores over the next few games to see who actually steps up and produces more with Antetokounmpo out though.

These are short-term adds, but could turn into good assets for the rest of the season if the Bucks eventually part ways with Antetokounmpo. I don't think that's out of the question.

We can reassess things if the Bucks do end up trading Antetokounmpo away, but for now, this is how I'd be approaching things.

Things are likely going to get a lot worse for Milwaukee before things get better, and if Antetokounmpo is traded away, it might signal the end of the Bucks' playoff hopes for a bit. We'll keep you posted on the latest, so keep checking back to FantasySP!