I looked for an Al Jeff thread but did not see one. What are his prospects. I really want to draft him but the knee scares me. Anybody hear about his health? So far everything looks good from what I have read but info has been scarce.

from what i've researched, he's doing good.
as a precaution, the Wolves are limiting his minutes in the preseason games.
he himself says that it's going well, and he's pacing himself for the start of the season.
he did say that he's also working hard on his conditioning.

i feel comfortable with Al's knee because he had his surgery many months ago compared to some of the other players who've had surgeries only as early as over the summer. Al's had more time than them to heal.
so, i feel pretty confident that he'll be fine come regular season.
and go look back on his stats from last season(before the injury) and the season before, and you'll see his stats were incredibly ridiculous. simply awesome. Points, Rebounds, Blocks, FG%.

He lost around 30 lbs this off-season to take some stress off of his knees. Hopefully that keeps him on the court this year.

his injury took place last February 8th, with 30 seconds left in the game.
a game wherein which he dropped 25 and 14 against New Orleans.
i believe he had his surgery a week or 2 later. (yeah he had surgery feb. 18) so he's had about 8 months of healing and rehab.
that's over double the time of healing compared to those who had surgery over the summer.

in those 50 games played last season he was averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds, 1.6 asts, 0.8 stls, 1.7 blocks, with 49.7% FG%, and 73.8% FT%.
sickkkk

furthermore, here's an excerpt from yahoo news:

Oct 10 Jefferson scored 14 points and was 7-of-12 from the field but had just one rebound in Friday's preseason loss to Toronto. He played just 17 minutes as he was rested in the second half as a precaution for his surgically-repaired knee.

Recommendation: Jefferson continues to look fully recovered from offseason knee surgery, but the T-Wolves are limiting his minutes early in the preseason as a precaution.

Thats great news. Thanks. Al Jefferson looks safe to draft at the turn of rd1/rd2.

Because of Jefferson's injury history you have to be a little worried, but I agree with Ridiculous. He has had a ton of time to recover.

My bigger concern with him is that there is a new coach and he and Kevin Love haven't been tested together.

When Jefferson was healthy, Love was just getting his NBA legs. Then McHale became the coach and his man crush on Love was quite apparent but I think Jefferson was injured for all or almost all of that time. How Rambis views the two of them and whether they can co-exist has yet to be determined.

That said, I think they can and will co-exist and if one of them has to take the hit, it will be Love, so I'm pretty high on Big Al this year. Like most I think he should be picked somewhere between 9 and 13 depending on the league.

Is he first round material in a no % , no TO league? I am picking 15 out of 15. I was thinking he should go before that but if he is there at 15, I might have to take him. An injury with a first , 2nd round pick can really sink your season, though.

i read somewhere that he doesn't expect to be 100% until this time next year. yes, 7 months is a long time in absolute terms but isn't a blown ACL usually a 12+ month recovery?

he's so hard to pass up on around the turn because there's a huge drop off between him and the bigs you'll be looking at in the late 3rd like Lee and Aldridge. but if i'm picking like 14th in a 16-team league, i'm not touching him in the 1st round. there is real downside here. ask Tom Brady. it's not like he was injury-free before this injury.

10 pts, 16 rebs, 4 blks

I know it's just preseason, but this is a very nice indication of things to come. plus Points.

The man is healthy.
And he's making me look like a genius!
Eat that, doubters!

k love is out two months with a broken hand. al-jeff has even more value now.

the basketball Gods are with me!

It's definitely a cause for concern to me. Thus far he hasn't shown any ill effects from it and it's obviously better than trying to return so quickly after microfracture surgery, but coming off of ACL surgery that quick has to raise some slight red flags. I don't know that there's a huge track record for it in basketball, but in football it's almost exclusively a year + injury.

Still think so..........You better be a lil bit concerned with this...

Al Jefferson was limited to 21 minutes on Saturday due to pain caused by a case of Achilles tendinitis.
The pain was too great for Jefferson to play in the fourth quarter and appeared to come out of no where. "We’re off tomorrow, he’ll get some treatment on it," Kurt Rambis said. "It’s an irritation. Hopefully, it will calm down…Today was the first I heard of it." It's possible the Achilles is reacting to a shift in weight placement following Jefferson's knee surgery, so keep an eye on this story.

yeah, the Basketball Gods just spit loogies in my burger.

Ah i have all my drafts in the next two days and love al jeff... I might have to avoid

He's out indefinitely now, making it even tougher start your draft with a late first round pick.

I had him a keeper league so wasn't much I could do on that, but I picked 12th in my other league tonight. I thought for sure I'd be staring at him wondering what to do. Fortunately Roy and Dwilliams were still there, so I dodged a bullet on that one.

Unless the news changes, you have to drop him down in your rankings. Picking someone that high who probably won't start the season is too risky. The big problem is that the drop off from there is huge. Nash, Billups, Igoudala? That is a pretty lame consolation prize considering what Jefferson will likely do if he is healthy.

It is such a brutal spot for an injury this year.

In my 20 team, AJ dropped all the way to early second round. I had the opportunity to draft him with my second pick, but ended up drafting Joe Johnson instead. That should put some perspective on how far he's dropped. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to draft him, but I ended up picking the safer path. Yes, he can be a beast when he's healthy, but the opportunity cost is just too high. An injury to your first two picks will be devastating.

And yea, the drop-off is pretty big.
Jason Kidd plus AJ is so much better than Jason Kidd plus Joe Johnson.

This is also why I like to draft closer to the start of the season, so these freak injuries won't devastate your team.

i was counting on him to go ahead of my picks number 15 and 16. One more chance the guy I really want gets taken. Ugh.

i got him with pick 19 in a keeper league i thought i got the steal of the draft getting him this late but now i am freaking out with him being out indefinitely... He is my center for the next five years and I need him bangin the glass and blocking shots... the knee has to hold up... anyone know anything new on the fact of him starting the season on the sidelines??????

I think I'm going to pass and let someone else take him. Too bad cause I really wanted to draft him but risk is too much. Oh well.

My draft is tomorrow but I want Al Jeff so badly... I hope I'm not tempted to pick him when he falls

the surgically repaired ACL i'm not worried about. it's fine, it's gold.

it's this damn achilles heel injury that's got me nervous.
i just hope this thing gets fixed before the season starts.

who in the past has had such an injury? were they out long with it?

al (or someone close) said that he won't be 100% until this time next yr, because of his acl. he is back awfully quick after that kind of surgery.

2 players come to mind in regard to the achilles heel injury concern.
Elton Brand and Brandon Roy.
now, i don't know exactly how serious Al Jefferson's achilles injury is, but Elton Brand's was serious that he had to have surgery.
Brandon Roy almost had to have surgery, but he lucked out. all they did was put a boot type of cast on his foot to let the achilles heel heal. and it did. but i hear that the pain still lingers for him.

So if we use those two scenarios, best case scenario is that AlJeff plays ~60 games this year (like B-Roy), worst case done for season. Yikes. You're going to need that trade I proposed to ya sooner than later.

Although Al Jefferson missed Tuesday's exhibition with Achilles tendinitis and the flu, coach Kurt Rambis said he could have played if it were "an important ballgame."

Rambis said he expects Jefferson to play in the regular season opener, though his status for Friday's final exhibition is still unclear. This is wonderful news for anyone who drafted (or will draft) Jefferson this season, though it doesn't mean his tendinitis won't flare up again unexpectedly. Oct. 20 - 11:34 pm et

things are looking good again!

Latest news on AJ as per Rotoworld:

Al Jefferson is over the flu but is still struggling with his Achilles tendinitis, which has him only partially participating in practice.
"We’ll see how he is tomorrow. That’s how we’ll keep going. We’ll keep evaluating him the following day, keep increasing his activity and see how he handles it," said coach Kurt Rambis. While he's probably still worth a first or second round selection, we would understand if you passed on him for somebody with less risk.

Anyone still worried? I'm not too sure, but I think that he should be alright. What do you guys think.

He practiced on today (Monday), so if it was really a problem I doubt that he would have practiced two days before the opener...I'm just hoping the pain doesn't come back, lingering injuries suck!! I still drafted him with the 14th pick though, at that position I had to..

I really think he will be fine, I think doctors have the ACL surgery down pat by now and the achilles doesn't seem to be too serious....after all, today's practice was a scrimmage and he still played

this is good news.
i am excited to see him play again.
and kick ass.

I've had tendinitis there before and it took awhile before it went away. I took a month and a half off of ball for it to go away. Usually tendinitis is kind of an overuse issue and usually requires rest, but there are different levels of course. I thought it was gone a couple of times after resting a couple of weeks and it flared back up again and again until I took the month and a half off. I sure hope they give it enough time to heal right or he'll be hurting on it. It's not a real painful injury but it's nagging especially for running. But if he got through the practice yesterday without feeling it, that's a pretty good sign.

Al Jeff squaring off against B-Lo tonite in Minnesota.

it's gonna be interesting.

He's only played 15 minutes so far.

I am watching the game tonight. I passed on Al Jeff with my second pick (23) and my third (26). After seeing him tonight, I am glad I did. Last year there was not post player who could guard Jefferson one on one. Opponents were throwing two sometimes three players at him when he got the ball. And he would still score.
There is no need for that this year. It is like watching Chris Webber out there. He has no explosion to the basket. The footwork that made him so hard to guard isn't there. I think the wolves should just shut him down until he gets his legs back.

bad start.
but the season is still young.

B-Lo owned Lopez last night. I was shocked to see it. I'm Al jefferson will be ok, but it may take a while for him to get into a groove.

I don't want to be a grammar nazi, but what?

Al Jefferson did not look very good in the first half, but he came back strong in the 4th and helping the Wolves beat the Nets in an epic collapse from the Nets. I hope he does not make me kick myself for passing him with my second pick (22th).

Was typing while on a conference call. Ha. Jefferson was owned (obviously by Lopez). Jefferson looked sluggish and timid and his lateral movement was sloth like and all most non-existent. Im sure he will be ok in the long run, but there is some minor cause for concern.

I'm of the thought he should sit until 100% healthy. Big picture here.

He's up against Shaq tonight. Last season he went off for 32pts 17rebs (I think?) but he played PF while Collins was at C. They don't have a big C who they can matchup against Shaq this year meaning he may have to deal with Shaq himself. Doesnt bode well that he lost a lot of weight over the offseason too.

If Brook Lopez can humiliate AJ like that, I dread to think what Shaq will do to him. And it's not like AJ's the most agile big man that he can run circles against a guy like Shaq. I have a feeling he may be in for another rough night.

Just a hunch.

Yeah I have a feeling that Shaq will hand it to him

21 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk.

he looked real good tonite. atleast early on.
but, with each game he's getting better and better.
he's starting to look like a legit 1st rounder now.

He did look better tonight. Some of the low post moves were back. But then again it was against the Suns who don't really play defense.

Big Al has a GREAT track record against the Suns and Amar'e...as long as his knee holds up he'll only get better

Looking good so far....looks like he is getting better as the season plays itself out.

Al Jefferson expects to play reduced minutes on Monday, the second of back-to-back games.

"I feel good," Jefferson said. "I can't wait until that part of the game is over with, limiting my minutes. I'm ready to get back to where I was." He made a nice start on Sunday, notching 21 points and eight rebounds vs. the Suns. Nov. 2 - 9:21 am et

come on, Rambis. let this guy play!

Cmon Rambis. Take your time. Make sure this kid is healthy. Both of our seasons depend on it.

where are the blocks? i was hoping for at least three a night?