Gilbert Arenas, aka Agent Zero has been playing like a shell of himself the early part of this season due to knee pain, and finally that resulted in him being shutdown for minor surgery.  The result is no Agent Zero - Hibachi for three months.  Given many people, including myself, had Gilbert near the top of the rankings lists and possibly the top guard, this has quite the trickle down effect for fantasy teams.

Since Gilbert controls so much of the Wizards offense and takes so many shots, this immediately opens the door for a number of players.  He is not a pass first PG, so it is not like when Nash leaves the Suns and their offense falls apart, the Wizards can have another guard step in and make that part of the offense work, so in the end it simply means more shots and playing time to go around for specific players.  A good thing for owners of those players, while the Gilbert owners whimper and cry while they rush to the free agent wire.

Slight Bump in Value:

Antawn Jamieson and Caron Butler - Both will have to take on a bigger role in the offense if the Wizards are to win any games.  That means more shots, more points and possibly a lower FG%.   The thing most people don’t realize is the defenses will actually have more opportunity to stop Butler and Jamieson without Arenas on the floor, hence hurting the available shots they do get.  Most opposing teams have double teams setup to take the ball out of Gilbert’s hands, which often creates open shots for his teammates.  No Arenas allows those defenses to now focus in on Butler and Jamieson.  Each should go up a little in scoring given more touches each game, but it won’t be dramatic.

More Playing Time:

Antonio Daniels - Daniels is going to see the biggest lift from this injury as he moves from backup PG and 6th man to a starting role.  Daniels has also always been more of a scoring guard than traditional point guard so expect numbers like 12-14 points and 5 assists while he is starting.  The good side of Daniels is for a guard he has also always contributed decent rebounds, threes and steals which should go up with more court time.  Though his scoring will probably be erratic, his overall fantasy line should be solid for the next 3 months if he can remain healthy.

Nick Young - Expect the rookie to now get into rotation now as he takes over the role formerly played by Daniels.  I doubt the rook will have much fantasy impact on a consistent basis, but if you are in a league which requires an active rookie, Young would be worth a look right now, and may be able to play himself into consistent minutes by the time Arenas returns.