| TEAM | INJURIES |
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Danuel House (Back), T.J. Warren (Foot), Adam Mokoka (Concussion), Spencer Dinwiddie (Knee),
Atlanta starts the season without Warren and Dinwiddie, who are two key players in their lineup. But they have enough talent to take a game or two even without them. House is also a solid bench player that will miss the season start. Mokoka is a two way player that wouldnt have an effect on any of the games. |
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Caris LeVert (Kidney), Troy Brown (Illness),
Caris LeVert will miss the first week of the season due to a kidney problem, which would probably have gone unnoticed if he hadnt had a physical before the season started. Lucky for him he had a physical, and im sure the Nets are thankful he is getting it looked at. Brown will also be missed, just not nearly as enough as they will miss LeVert. Nets should be okay though, except maybe against the Clippers. |
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Chris Silva (Hip), Jonas Valanciunas (Illness), Russell Westbrook (Quad),
Boston is not starting the season off to a good start, sure they have Paul George ready to roll. But they have both Russell Westbrook and Jonas Valanciunas out for the week. These key injuries will most likely cause them some losses in games they could have won if these two were healthy. |
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Frank Jackson (Ankle),
A very scary Charlotte Hornets team is fully healthy with one exception, Frank Jackson. Lucky for the Hornets, Jackson is a two way player and a non factor for their teams success. With games against the Spurs and 76ers in week one the Hornets are in the best position possible to take these two top teams down in week one. |
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Devon Dotson (Personal), Carsen Edwards (Illness), Drew Eubanks (Illness), Al Horford (Personal), Meyers Leonard (Shoulder), Patrick McCaw (Knee),
Chicago has a list of injuries piling up already for the season. In week one they will have six players on injured reserve. This might look bad but only Al Horford is an important scratch here. The rest of these guys rank in the 300+ ESPN ranks, or are two way players. It does kill their depth a bit, but with Russell, Washington, and Hield the Bulls should be able to contend for wins against the Lakers and Raptors. |
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Mohamed Bamba (Illness), Jay Scrubb (Foot), Kris Dunn (Ankle), Zach Collins (Ankle), Jaren Jackson Jnr (Knee),
The Cavaliers are another team with many injuries to start the season off with. Missing Jaren Jackson Jr is the big one here. But also missing Bamba and Collins hurts their big man depth. Still the Cavaliers are in a solid position with their depth. With guys like Sexton, Gordon, Barnes, Pope, and Kuzma the Cavs still have a shot to win games against the Heat, Grizzlies, and possibly the Jazz. |
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Wendell Carter Jr (Thigh),
The "rebuilding" Dallas Mavericks have one man out to start the season, and its their top center Wendell Carter Jr. Luckily for them their backup is Marvin Bagley III. The Mavericks face off against the Kings, Lakers, and Heat so they should be able to win a few games this week despite this injury.
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Jonathan Isaac (Knee), Greg Whittington (Knee),
The Nuggets start the season without their top prospect Jonathan Isaac with a knee injury. The team is in full rebuild mode and wont rush Isaac back too soon and risk re injuring the kid. Also out with another knee injury is Whittington, a two way non factor for week one anyway. Maybe their trainers should lay off exercises that are causing these knee injuries. |
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Alen Smailagic (Knee), Klay Thompson (Knee),
For the Pistons the Klay Thompson injury puts them in a bad spot. For one it will make it hard for the Pistons to compete against top teams in the league. Which has led them to putting him on not only the injured reserve, but the trade block. Teams might not value Klay as much right now due to the length he will be out, but he should be a great gamble if someone can get him for a reasonable price. I mean i wouldnt trade four players and three first round picks for him, but he is still worth picking up for teams rebuilding this season. |
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Grant Riller (Knee), Bogdan Bogdanovic (Knee), C.J. Elleby (Foot),
The Golden State Warriors go into week one with three injuries, most notable is the knee injury to Bogdan Bognanovic. If the Warriors win any games this season he will most likely be a big part of it. Warriors have a handful of solid bench type players to go along with BAM! But without Bogdan we dont see this team winning many games once again. Dont trade your first round pick! |
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Maxi Kleber (Illness), Tyler Herro (Back),
For the Rockets they will be without Tyler Herro to open the season off. Herro is a key player to their starting lineup, but they do have JJ Redick and Hardaway to makeup for the loss of Herro's shooting from behind the arc. Kleber is another key injury for the Rockets, without him they might have to settle with the six foot nine Jeff Green as a backup center. |
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Matthew Dellavedova (Concussion), Vincent Poirier (Illness), Dwight Powell (Illness), C.J. McCollum (Foot),
The Indiana Pacers made some really nice moves in the offseason, so it was going to be exciting to see how the Pacers would look on the floor this season. Unfortunately we will have to wait to see them since their second best player C.J. McCollum is out for the week. Another key injury for their bench is Dwight Powell, who is out with an illness. Lucky for the Pacers they still have Doncic, Hayward, Ibaka, and a relatively easy schedule for week one. |
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Jayson Tatum (Illness), Jahmius Ramsey (Groin),
The Clippers start the season with a couple injuries. Jayson Tatum will be out for week one as will be Jahmius Ramsey. Its hard starting the season without your best player, but with the roster Andrew has put together it wont be that big of a deal will it? The Clippers are loaded with all-star talent and should have some easy wins this week, with the exception of Brooklyn. |
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Christian Wood (Ankle), Aaron Nesmith (Back), Kostas Antetokounmpo (Knee), Elijah Hughes (Ankle),
Christian Wood was one of the big stories coming out last year. Unfortunately his story will get off on the wrong foot this season, as he will be missing at least the first week for the Lakers. Being the best player on the Lakers this will take a hit for the team. But they do have some young guys like Garland and Wiseman to contend with opponents like the Suns, Bulls, and Knicks this week. Nesmith, Antetokounmpo, and Hughes seem like non factors for week one, and wont be missed much. |
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Al-Farouq Aminu (Knee), Dorian Finney-Smith (Illness), Austin Rivers (Achilles), Karl-Anthony Towns (Wrist),
Memphis made a huge splash last offseason when they acquired KAT from the Milwaukee Bucks. But instead of watching their newly acquired superstar, he will be sitting on the bench in week one. Finney-Smith and Rivers are two other scratches from week one that will impact how the Grizzlies start the season out. They do play the Heat, Raptors, Warriors, and Cavs so anything is possible. |
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Ty Jerome (Ankle),
The Miami Heat have one injury and thats Ty Jerome, which isnt really going to effect the Heats performance on the court. The Heat have two first round picks so we dont think the Heat will be trying to win games, but we wouldnt be surprised if they pull of a win or two in week one. |
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Killian Hayes (Hip), Romeo Langford (Wrist), Josh Richardson (Illness), Jusuf Nurkic (Wrist),
The Milwaukee Bucks traded KAT since they had Jusuf Nurkic waiting behind him for the starting position, unfortunately Nurkic is injured for week one which puts the Bucks in a tight spot. Do they start Giannis at the center for week one, or go with their first round pick Okongwu who was selected third overall? Also out are Josh Richardson, Hayes, and Langford. We could see the Bucks playing a lot smaller than they usually like to.
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Chuma Okeke (Bruise), Kevin Love (Calf), Tacko Fall (Anle), Avery Bradley (Illness),
The Minnesota Timberwolves will be missing a guy like Kevin Love a lot this week and any other week he is out. Love is known for being injured, and the size of his contract makes him a hard player to move. But if the Timberwolves want to win they need Love in the starting lineup. Avery Bradley is also going to be out, another key rotation player. But im not sure the Timberwolves really want to win. They still have a ways to go to become a playoff team. But they do have guys like Nance, Graham, and a handful of rookies to play around with. |
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John Wall (Knee), Luke Kornet (Personal), Keita Bates-Diop (Illness),
The New Orleans Pelicans traded for John Wall last year and waited a long time until they could play him for the first time this season. Looks like a knee injury will keep them from playing him once again. Walls injury is a very key one if the Pelicans want to compete. The Pelicans made a few "questionable" trades, but have pretty much everyone that matters besides Wall, ready to roll. Lets see if those "questionable" trades can do for the Pelicans in week one. |
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Mike Scott (Knee), Will Magnay (Personal), Juan Hernangomez (Illness), Thon Maker (Waived in NBA),
The New York Knicks have most guys on their team healthy. They lose a bit of depth up front with guys like Mike Scott, Juan Hernangomez, Will Magnay out and of course Thon Maker waived in the NBA. The Knicks think they can get away with these missing pieces, but only time will tell. Look for Randle and Drummond to get major minutes to help deal with this lack of depth. |
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Josh Hall (Illness), Frank Ntilikina (Knee), Hassan Whiteside (Hip), Marquese Chriss (Leg), Jontay Porter (Knee),
The Oklahoma City Thunder go into week one with a handful of injuries. Luckily its no one named Lebron or Curry or Kawhi. The Thunder do have an impressive three headed monster teams will have to deal with, but they also kind of lack depth. Missing Whiteside is going to be the biggest name on the list. Without Whiteside the Thunder might have to start McGee at center which isnt that bad. Hall, Ntilikina, Chriss, and Porter round out the rest of the injuries. |
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Nicolas Claxton (Knee), Derrick White (Toe), DaQuan Jeffries (Ankle), Thomas Bryant (Knee),
The Orlando Magic go into the season with four injuries, most notable is the injury of their top player Thomas Bryant. Claxton, White, and Jeffries round out the injuries for the Magic. The Magic arent looking to win many games this season, but at least they can see their twelfth pick in the NLL Draft Tyrese Haliburton take the court in week one. |
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Damian Jones (Illness),
The 76ers go into week one with only one injured player, and that player is Damian Jones. Its a good week for Philadelphia to be fully operational as they have games against teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Charlotte Hornets, and might have a nice battle with the Knicks (wishful thinking). Harden, Lilliard, Gobert, Williamson, and the boys are ready to claim the title of top team in the league against other title contenders in week one. |
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Michael Carter-Williams (Foot), Kevin Durant (Achilles), Jimmy Butler (Illness), Kyle Lowry (Foot),
The Phoenix Suns have to be the worse off team to start the season, and we all feel bad for them. Missing their top three players Durant, Butler, and Lowry is going to transform this title contender into a lottery team over night. Durant playing on a Saturday after missing Fridays game just makes this sting a little more. While the Suns are avoiding any title contenders in week one, they do have a depth problem of having too many big men and not enough guards. But we wouldnt be surprised to still see the Suns pull out a win this week. |
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Anzejs Pasecniks (Waived in NBA),
Portland Trailblazers arent missing any major players this week. Pascniks is out and probably out for a while if not forever, but he was a non factor even if he was healthy. Portland is going into week one against teams such as the Suns, Hawks, Hornets, and Clippers at full strength. We think the Blazers would win at least one of these games. It will be interesting to see how well the Blazers match up against the Hornets and Hawks. |
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Brodric Thomas (Ankle), Quinndary Weatherspoon (Knee),
The San Antonio Spurs are at full health going into the first week of the season. The only two injuries they have are both their two way players, which most likely wouldnt be a factor if healthy. AD and the boys are ready to roll into the season and full strength. Im interested to see how Leeroy manages Ball, VanVleet, and Murrays minutes and the rotations or positions they end up playing against teams in week one, which include the Wizards, Hornets, Bucks, and Heat. |
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Trevor Ariza (Personal),
Trevor Ariza is away from the Sacramento Kings for the start of their season. The Kings have a pretty rough roster, full of solid rotation and bench players. Thats not good when you start the season against the Mavericks, Bucks, and Clippers. |
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None,
The Toronto Raptors go into the season at full strength and with a seemingly decent schedule. Led by Bradley Beal, the Raptors see themselves going up against the Grizzlies, Celtics, Nuggets, and Bulls. |
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Alex Len (Waived in NBA), Markelle Fultz (Knee), Justise Winslow (Hip),
The team is still missing a GM, and they will also be missing Alex Len, Markelle Fultz, and Justise Winslow. Len is out after being cut in the NBA, but should be back soon after getting signed by another team. Fultz will be a big loss going into the season but luckily the Jazz have Brogdon who can start at point guard. The Jazz will face the Thunder, Nets, Cavs, and Wizards, so we believe they can at least pull out a win against one of these teams. |
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Chandler Hutchison (Covid-19), Dario Saric (Illness), Jared Dudley (Calf),
For the Wizards, Dario Saric will be the biggest lost this week. Saric is a starting quality power forward who can stretch the floor for the Wizards. But as long as the Wizards have Irving and Simmons on the court at the same time the Wizards have a chance to win every game. |
