David

West

“I think West is starting to play much better,” Scott said. “I think with P.J. and David in there, that gives us a little more speed, and we’ll probably run a little more.” After 11 games, West is averaging 5.9 points and is the team’s third-leading rebounder, grabbing 4.6. He could be worth a bench spot in deep leagues.

Ouch. Now Chris Andersen may actually have some value, since the Hornets are without Jamaal Magloire and David West for several weeks. Lee Nailon becomes very valuable with this loss as well.

“I think it’s a little worse than what everybody expected at the beginning,” coach Byron Scott said. “It’s a more severe bone bruise than we all thought.”

''It’s a slow-healing bone bruise,’' Scott added. ''It’s one of those things where he could be out until the end of March, but I can’t even speculate on that.’' In other words, don’t look for West to have much of a role the remainder of this season.

West has missed 26 games since sustaining the injury. He participated in a practice last week and experienced swelling. “It’s still bothering him, and I saw him limping,” coach Byron Scott said. West traveled with the team to Miami but isn’t ready to return.

Nice quarter for the rookie, with the rebound being a season high. With the Hornets ranked 27th in rebounding, West may see his playing time increase.

This echoes a similar sentiment from Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski from months ago, when he identified both West and Carl Landry as potential fits for the Pacers. Josh McRoberts is an unrestricted free agent, and the Pacers likely aren’t sold on a full-time role for Tyler Hansbrough. West’s addition would give the team a serious force in the pick and roll game, and his addition would really benefit both Danny Granger and Darren Collison.

West has been a pleasant surprise during the fantasy playoffs, and this is his best performance to date.

No, he’s not hurt, but he did miss all three of his shots. Tyler Hansbrough got hot early and coach Frank Vogel decided to ride him the entire night. The plan worked as the Pacers won easily, but we seriously doubt West’s job is threatened by Hansbrough. But whether his job is in trouble or not, West hasn’t played well enough to be an automatic starter in most fantasy leagues.