You might remember Tayshaun Prince as a very good defender whose defensive reach and left-handed jump shot caused many teams problems when Joe Dumars' Pistons were an intimidating bunch -- not a 16-31 team that has one fewer win than the Indiana Pacers.

Fantasy owners now recall Prince as an oft-injured shell of himself, one who has played in only 15 games this season because of back and knee injuries.

It's much too early to be overly optimistic, but Prince has shown some encouraging signs in the last five games since returning from a sore knee. He has averaged 11 points and 5.4 rebounds in that span, and in the last two, he's totaled 27 points and 17 rebounds on 12-of-26 shooting (46.2 percent). The latter percentage isn't impressive, but it's much better than Prince's season average of 41.2 percent -- 4.8 below his career norm.

Prince is available in more than 73 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com for a reason. But if you need help at forward, or if you're in a daily league in which you play everyone on your roster based on the schedule, he's worth considering.

From Bad Boy to serviceable reserve -- the 2009-10 Pistons.

-- Showing some bite: In four NBA seasons, Ryan Hollins has averaged 3.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game. He's also the key to the Timberwolves' resurgence.

The latter is a slight (OK, huge) exaggeration, but Minnesota (11-38) is 2-0 since Hollins was inserted into the starting lineup. In that span, the center has 35 points, six rebounds and four blocks in 60 minutes. Hollins is 13 of 19 from the floor in the two contests.

This is a bigger reach than believing "Pants on the Ground" would become a song we couldn't get out of our heads, but Hollins -- who is owned in 0.4 percent (yes, 0.4) percent of the ESPN leagues -- is worth monitoring in the next week or two.

One, he's a center, a position at which you can't have enough help. Two, he's shooting 54.1 percent from the field and, if given minutes, might help you in points and blocks.

The bad (believe it or not, Hollins has negatives): The 7-footer is averaging all of 2.9 rebounds in 17.1 minutes this season.

Again, this is a reach, but Hollins should be on your watch list.

Pants on the ground, pants on the ground ...

-- Chris Paul update: After knee surgery Thursday, the Hornets point guard will be out 4-6 weeks. Considering most leagues begin their postseasons in Weeks 21 or 22, and this is Week 15, Paul owners will be fortunate if they get their first-round selection back in time for the playoffs.

Keep that in mind if your league's trade deadline hasn't passed. As I wrote Monday, Darren Collison is more than an adequate replacement for Paul on your roster.

The Hornets rookie has 42 points and 41 assists in three games since Paul was injured.

Chris Paul's knee injury is the basketball equivalent of losing Adrian Peterson for at least a few weeks in the fall.

If that sounds dramatic, take a glance at the statistics for the Hornets' All-Star point guard. He can score (20.2 points per game), he leads the league in assists (11.2), is second in steals (2.3) and is fourth among guards in field-goal percentage (50.4). Paul also averages 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 3-pointers per game, and he commits only 2.5 turnovers (his assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.42 easily leads the league).

Now you're left with, if you're lucky, Darren Collison for at least the next month.

When asked about Paul's knee injury Monday, Hornets coach/general manager/quote machine Jeff Bowers told reporters, "It is likely there will be a surgical solution for it."

Bowers wouldn't confirm an ESPN report that Paul has a torn meniscus and could be sidelined two months.

What Bowers doesn't need to confirm is Collison's place on the waiver wire. The rookie from UCLA is a must-have for Paul owners, and he's a free-agent gem for anyone who is in dire need of assists.

Counting Monday's loss to the Suns, Collison has 32 assists in the two games since Paul was injured. He has 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine turnovers in that span, and he's made all but one of his 11 free-throw attempts.

When Paul missed eight games because of a sprained ankle earlier this season, Collison averaged 14.9 points, 6.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals in that stretch. He was 29-for-32 from the free-throw line (90.6 percent) and 42-for-100 from the field (hopefully, I don't have to tell you that's 42 percent) in the eight games.

The latter percentage is one of the few drawbacks to Collison.

For the season, he's shooting 41.2 percent from the field, and he's not nearly the 3-point threat Paul is (Collison has 11 treys in 42 games).

You won't get two or three steals per game, either, but you can do a lot worse than a rookie who can pile up points and assists, along with helping your free-throw percentage.

As of late Monday night, Collison was available in 93 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com.

He's a bargain in any format until Paul returns.

And we'll have to wait for further word on a "surgical solution" to know when that might be.