Ranking impact of NBA injuries: Jalen Williams, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton lead way
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Ranking impact of NBA injuries: Jalen Williams, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton lead way originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Injuries are always a miserable part of the NBA season. This year, they seem to have hit the league even more than normal. Approximately 15 percent of the league is listed with an injury or illness on Wednesday's injury report, per Keerthika Uthayakumar.
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That group contains a lot of the league's headliners as well. Just eight days into the season, eleven former All-Stars are already out for a period of at least several weeks. On Monday and Tuesday alone, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Kawhi Leonard were announced to have long-term injuries.
Some of these injuries are devastating. Other teams have the depth to at least stem the tide until their stars can come back. They also open up opportunities for teammates to step up.
Here are the injuries that will have the biggest impacts, along with who will be counted on to play a bigger role.
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1. Jalen Williams
The Thunder got hit twice early in the season, losing Jalen Williams to a gruesome leg injury and Cason Wallace to a torn labrum. Both players may miss the entire season.
The Thunder have an extremely deep team. They have the best center rotation in the league, the best player by many accounts, and elite coaching. They can withstand the loss of Williams and Wallace.
Whether they can win the championship is a completely different question. Ajay Mitchell had a breakout as a spot starter last year and looked good in his first game back in the starting lineup. He's also on the injury report with a right ankle sprain that he may be able to play through. He will have to step up, as will the back end of the Thunder bench. Rookie Bennett Stirtz will immediately be thrown into the fire too.
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2. Kawhi Leonard
Leonard is expected to miss multiple weeks due to swelling in his left knee. Any news of injuries for him are always worrisome given that he's only managed to play in 65 or more games twice over the past nine years.
The Raptors looked like one of the best teams in the league with Leonard over their first two games, blowing out the Bulls by 43 points and winning again by double-digits against the Wizards. They saw how difficult life is without him after losing by 23 to the Wolves on Sunday.
Scottie Barnes was dreadful in that game, going 0 for 12 and failing to score a single point. He will be the focal point of the team's offense, and he must be a lot better. Ja'Kobe Walter should also get more opportunities. He started in place of Leonard, and the quality defender has a chance to show more of his scoring package.
Leonard does so much on offense in terms of finding scoring opportunities, spreading the floor, and acting as one of the only pull-up 3-point threats on the roster. The Raptors will have to win some rock fights until he comes back.
3. Anthony Edwards
Ant man was looking like an MVP candidate in the early portion of the Wolves' season. He's probably the best three-level scorer in the league. Given the early struggles from some of the other top contenders in the West, the Wolves looked like they may have been able to get the top seed in the conference.
That dream will be put on pause as Edwards recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery that will keep him out for up to two months. LaMelo Ball has been great for Minnesota, and he becomes even more useful now. Ayo Dosunmu is one of the best bench guards in the league, and he is more than capable of stepping into the starting lineup. The Wolves will be okay, but they won't be dominant.
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4. Tyrese Haliburton
Haliburton sustained a left hamstring strain and will miss some time, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. A timetable wasn't announced, but hamstring injuries generally take at least a few weeks.
Haliburton's left hamstring has bothered him before. His right leg was surgically-repaired just 16 months ago. This is not the time to rush him back from injury.
The Pacers were a brutal 19-63 without Haliburton last year. They were 2-2 this season with him, and looking like a promising team again. That's no longer the case, particularly given that they'll also be missing Ivica Zubac as he recovers from a sprained ankle.
Haliburton is the engine that makes everything work in Indiana. With him, they're a dark horse championship contender. Without him, they're not a playoff team. The Pacers don't have anyone who can replace his production. Backup point guard T.J. McConnell is also dealing with his own hamstring injury.
Hamstring injuries have a tendency to linger. If Haliburton's doesn't resolve, then it puts a major cap on the Pacers' ceiling.
5. Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Jazz were already facing issues in their frontcourt due to Jusuf Nurkic's foot injury. They didn't have the depth to withstand that loss.
Their problems grew exponentially worse with Jackson's torn MCL diagnosis. He's expected to be out for six to eight weeks. That comes on the heels of a wrist injury to Lauri Markkanen that has him listed as day-to-day.
Utah was expected to take a big leap this year. Instead, they're 1-3 and haven't shown good chemistry on their roster even before the injury bug hit.
Markkanen may have to play up in position. Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba will have to step up as backup centers. And the whole team must defend much better as they deal with the loss of Jackson Jr., a former Defensive Player of the Year. The backcourt duo of Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson in particular need to improve their perimeter defense.
6. Paolo Banchero
Banchero is out for four to six weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain in his right foot. The Magic also lost Jalen Suggs for at least two weeks with a bone bruise in his right knee.
Orlando is used to life without those two. They were one of the unluckiest teams with regards to injuries last year, when Banchero missed 10 games and Suggs missed 25.
Franz Wagner will have to take on a larger chunk of the playmaking duties. So will Anthony Black, who looked terrific in his season debut on Sunday where he scored 18 points and helped the Magic beat the Knicks.
7. Kristaps Porzingis
Porzingis is out indefinitely as he deals with a POTS diagnosis. The Warriors are extremely pessimistic that he ever plays for the team again, per ESPN's Anthony Slater.
The Warriors couldn't afford to lose Porzingis for significant time, let alone the whole season. Stephen Curry's knee is being managed already, Jimmy Butler will be out for a large chunk of the season, and so will Moses Moody.
This does open the door for rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who is leading his class with 21.8 points per game on strong efficiency. He's a somewhat surprising early candidate for Rookie of the Year given that he lasted until the 11th pick in the draft. Lendeborg still needs to improve his team defense, but he will play through those mistakes.
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Other noteworthy injuries: Jalen Duren, Coby White, Kon Knueppel, Nic Claxton, Ben Simmons, Max Strus, Mark Williams, Jusuf Nurkic, Ariel Hukporti, Shaedon Sharpe, Jimmy Butler, Donte DiVincenzo, Brandon Ingram, Dereck Lively