Denver Nuggets reserve J.R. Smith has fallen into head coach George Karl's doghouse. After averaging 22.3 minutes per game in Denver's first nine games, Smith has played just one minute in the team's last three outings.The Breakdown
Smith and Karl have butted heads in previous years, so seasoned fantasy veterans may get a feeling of deja vu seeing Smith getting benched yet again. In previous seasons, things were usually smoothed over after a few games and Smith returned to his usual sixth man role. We expect the same thing to happen this time as Smith is just too talented to stay at the end of the bench for long. Smith owners in standard leagues should just wait things out and keep J.R. stashed on the bench.
Since undrafted rookie Gary Forbes has taken over Smith's minutes, deep leaguers may want to grab him while he's getting extended playing time. Forbes, though, isn't a player you can count on nightly. He's been very inconsistent from game to game.
