First Team
PG: Baron Davis
SG: Tracy McGrady
SF: Andrei Kirilenko
PF: Kenyon Martin
C: Shaquille O’Neal

Davis: When healthy, Baron is a top-5 fantasy point guard. He is a valuable contributor in steals, points, threes, and a good rebounder for a guard. Recently his draft value drops a few rounds just because of his injury history. And every year he starts out really hot, but when everyone starts saying “this is the year…” he goes down with an injury. He has missed 4 games so far this year, and has averaged under 55 games played over the past 4 years with a low of 46.

McGrady: A solid 2nd round pick every year, T-Mac will get you points, rebounds, assists, steals and solid percentages. Any night can be a huge night. But any night can be the night his back acts up, as has been the case over the past couple of seasons. And I know back pain – it isn’t something that ever goes away. He has missed 7 games this season and has averaged just under 67 games per season over the last 4 years, with a low of 47.

Kirilenko: The fantasy poster boy for the term “high risk, high reward”. The ultimate 9-cat player; if there is a stat for it, odds are AK47 helps you in it. Problem is, over the last 2 seasons he has teased fantasy owners around the globe, playing only 67 games and 41 games respectively. He has already missed 5 this year, and it seems some of his injuries are recurring, such as back troubles.

Martin: His career got off to a fast start (thanks in no small part to Jason Kidd) and the #1 overall pick looked to be a beast down low offensively and defensively. One bum knee forced him to play 67 and 56 games respectively over the past two seasons. With microfracture surgery number 2 coming two games into this season, KMart has earned himself captaincy of the Injury Risk Team.

O’Neal: Shaq Daddy is quickly on his way to Shaq Grandaddy. He is getting up there in years for a post player and his fantasy value has diminished in each season he has played in Miami. Not the force he once was, but he still commands attention when playing. The problem is that he has only played 4 games this season, ensuring that 06-07 will be the fewest games played in a season (previously 59). And he has only averaged 67.5 games played over the past 6 years. So you can count on him missing a good chunk every year going forward as he coasts until the playoffs.

Second Team
PG: Brevin Knight
SG: Gerald Wallace
SF: Grant Hill
PF: Chris Webber
C: Marcus Camby

Knight: He has only averaged 61.5 games over the past 4 years (with a low of 55), which is a real shame because once he joined Charlotte and got starter’s minutes he proved to be a very valuable fantasy contributor as he neared the top of the league in steals and assists. Knight has all ready missed 12 games this year and is deferring more and more to Ray Felton and Adam Morrison at the guard positions.

Wallace: Wallace plays in the mold of Kirilenko in that he helps you in virtually every category possible. However he plays with such reckless abandon (note that he is now being referred to as “Crash”) that you cannot count on him being healthy for a full season. Though at the time of writing he had only missed 1 game this season, he is out at least a week with a shoulder injury. In his 2 years of logging heavy minutes in Charlotte he has only averaged 62.5 games played per season.

Hill: Here we have the ultimate basketball tragedy. When I was younger, Hill was one of my favourite players in the league; an excitingly talented player who could do it all. But faster than you could say “the next Jordan” he blew a tire. He has only missed 4 games this year because he doesn’t play on the second game of a back to back, but he has only averaged 37 games over the last 7 seasons as he has endured what seem to be one hundred surgeries. He has only played in more than 67 games once during that span. It is also possible that he and Ken Griffey, Jr. were separated at birth.

Webber: When most basketball players hit their mid-thirties, age starts catching up them. But for Webber, his age is just finally catching up to his knees – which have long since retired. Some made the mistake of looking at his throwback season last year as a positive trend, myself included. Big mistake. He has already missed 12 games this year and is playing like he is in his mid-fifties, not thirties. An average of 62 games played in the last 7 years indicate that he cannot be counted on to log heavy minutes for your fantasy squad.

Camby: He is one of the best defenders in the NBA when healthy; a swat-machine and great rebounder. However he has only averaged 53 games played in the last 7 years – and he really isn’t even that old in basketball terms. His highest in that time period was 72 games and hit as low as 29 twice. Camby is very fragile and has driven quite a few GM’s crazy in his career, both in the NBA and in the fantasy world. He has missed 4 games so far this season and you can bank on him missing another chunk at some point – it is just a given nowadays.

Third Team
PG: Jamaal Tinsley
SG: Larry Hughes
SF: Wally Szczerbiak
PF: Jermaine O’Neal
C: Yao Ming

Tinsley: I hope we don’t jinx him with this article, but Tinsley has yet to miss a game this season. Is he finally healthy? He has only averaged 52 games over the past 4 years so can he really be counted on? Fantasy owners (and Rick Carlisle) sure hope so.

Hughes: After only playing 36 games last year, Hughes has all ready missed 10 this year. After a banner contract season in Washington, he has been pretty disappointing next to LeBron. And only averaging 58 games played in the last 6 seasons for someone as young as Hughes indicates this will be a perennial problem.

Szczerbiak: “Wally World” has been closed quite frequently over the past 4 years, averaging only 58 games played. He did get as high as 81 during that span, however he also went as low as 28. He has missed 9 this year, and his bad knees indicate that he may need some rest toward the end of the season as well.

O’Neal: When healthy he is one of the better post players, offensively and defensively, in the whole league. However health is an annual problem, as he has averaged 65.6 games played in the last 7 years and isn’t even 30 years old. He has missed 5 this season so far (emphasis on “so far”).

Yao: He started off his career with great endurance, however the last 2 seasons have not been kind to fantasy owners of Yao. He will miss up to 2 months with a broken leg this year after putting up MVP caliber numbers, and he only played 57 games last year thanks to a variety of injuries. He is the best centre in the NBA if he can stay on the floor for a full season. Be cautious.

Honorable Mention Team
PG: Speedy Claxton – has missed 7 so far this year, averaged 58 games played throughout his 5 year career
SG: Quentin Richardson – has missed 9 so far this year, has averaged 64.5 games played over the last 4 seasons, as low as 55
SF: Corey Maggette – someone as big as Maggette surprises us with his lack of durability. Has missed 2 thus far, averaging under 60 in the last 5 years
PF: Troy Murphy – missed 13 already this year, averaging 50 played per season over the last 5; getting as low as 29.
C: Nene Hilario – missed 16 this season, only played 1 last year, and has averaged 52 in the last 4 years; has yet to realize his potential (or his contract) due to injuries.

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Nick Obergan is a column writer for RotoFreak.com. Don't forget to check out Nick's 'The Dirty Dozen' articles, which are published on a bi-weekly basis. If you'd like to comment on this article, please chime in on the boards.