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Week 17 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Paul George

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By @bradberreman24

Paul George, Fantasy Basketball, Indiana Pacers

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After suffering a devastating right leg injury while playing for Team USA last summer, Indiana Pacers guard Paul George looked fairly certain to miss this entire season. But he has progressed to participating in pre-game warmups and practicing, albeit without contact, and Yahoo! Sports reported last Friday that George is targeting a return in mid-March.

There’s no denying George’s talent level, and he was a top producer from a fantasy perspective last season (21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game). But with this season winding down, is George a must-add for fantasy basketball owners?

Mid-March is at least close the start of the playoffs in most fantasy leagues, and even though they remain on the fringe of playoff contention the Pacers have little to gain by having George jump right into a lot of minutes. That assumes his health and conditioning would even allow him to play a lot of minutes immediately, or any point over what will be left of the season, and George’s full recovery has to remain the top priority for the team.

In leagues where he is available, George’s appeal is limited to a certain type of fantasy owner-those that have a likely playoff team and can stash him on the bench, or in an injured reserve spot, without having to count on him for anything substantial. There’s a chance he will be a difference maker when he returns to action, even with a likely limit on his minutes, and George will automatically stand out with the waiver wire not being flush with good options at this point in the season. But there’s just as good a chance George makes no notable contribution for fantasy owners, or the Pacers, over the final few weeks of the season.

Brad Berreman is a Columnist/Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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