NBA 2017-18: 5 Teams Most Impacted By Injuries 

Injuries are a part of sports, but it seems like this year has had a lot of big injuries on big name players. Some have left players day-to-day. Some have been missing months of action. Some will be out for the remainder of the season. We hope for quick recoveries for these players so we can see them back in action and play great entertaining basketball.

There have been a lot of injuries, so I will just be focusing on injuries on key players that have had a serious impact on their team.

#5 Memphis Grizzlies

Mike Conley

The Grizzlies had a great start to the season, but November was a real game changer. With the firing of head coach David Fizdale. This could because that the Grizzlies lost 11-straight games, or the feud of taking out All-Star center, Marc Gasol in the fourth quarter. Either way, the Grizzlies fired their head coach and have some issues with a couple of their star players.

Marc Gasol has had multiple sore/sprained ankles this season but still played through them. Mike Conley has almost been injured with a left Achilles soreness and left heel injury, that has kept him sidelined for the past month. Lastly, Chandler Parsons has been day-to-day with a right knee injury and soreness in his ankle.

The Grizzlies are currently 8-15 placing them 12th in the Western Conference. Personally, I don’t think they should’ve fired their well-respected coach because of a little controversial feud between a star player. We have seen that in the past with DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl, Rajon Rondo and Rick Carlisle, and Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy.

#4 Cleveland Cavaliers

It is unsure if Derrick Rose will return this season after a series of ankle injuries this season.

The Cavaliers’ have had a rough start this season despite having one of the best lineups on paper with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, and Isaiah Thomas. The problem is the Cavaliers are very injury prone this season, so they need to be careful.

After picking up the most injury prone player in the league in Derrick Rose, he seemed to be playing very well. But his ankle injuries keeps reoccurring and has left him out of a lot of games.The other big pickup over the offseason was Isaiah Thomas. The problem is the injury he sustained in the playoffs last season. Thomas is still recovering from surgery to fix a labral tear in his right hip, but he is expected to start playing in games in late December. Tristan Thompson has also been out with a left calf strain and is considered to be day-to-day. Lastly, Iman Shumpert had arthroscopic left knee surgery and surgery to repair a torn meniscus, which will leave him out for the next six to eight weeks.

The Cavaliers are holding their own with a record of 17-7 without two of their starting point guards, but with the amount of talent on this roster, it is hard to say they were really going to struggle without them. It didn’t look too good when they lost 93-114 to the Orlando Magic or 95-114 to the New York Knicks, but they have turned it around since then. They will just be that much better when their players return from injury.

#3 Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls acquire Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen in exchange for Jimmy Butler and their 16th overall draft pick.

The Chicago Bulls have seriously taken a step back this season over the offseason. Not only did they trade away their best player, Jimmy Butler, with their 16th overall draft pick for an injured Zach LaVine, a rookie Kris Dunn, and the 7th overall draft pick (which was used to pick up Lauri Markkanen). Dwyane Wade also decided to waive his contract and left the team for the Cavaliers. On top of that, there have been fights between the team members and multiple injuries.

So where does that leave the Bulls?

Currently, LaVine is scheduled to return to team practices late in December after being sent down to the G League with the Windy City Bulls. Even though Bulls' head coach Fred Holberg said the Bulls have “no reason to rush” the return of LaVine. This is a big hint that the Bulls are in total rebuild mode this season. Nikola Mitotic is still recovering from a facial fracture, which has put him on a day-to-day assessment. Bobby Portis is also day-to-day with a right arm contusion. Finally, Cameron Payne will be out for three to four months recovering from surgery to his right foot.

The Bull’s are currently 3-18 this season which is putting them on pace to do worse than the worst record recording in NBA history, the Charlotte Bobcats with a record of 7-41 (0.106 winning percentage). I know the Bulls are taking a step back this year to develop their newly acquired rookie. Markkanen is doing extremely well this season and I would say he is probably their best player on the team currently. But this is still a huge step back from their 41-41 record last season placing them 4th in the Eastern Conference.

#2 Brooklyn Nets

What are the Nets going to do with their missing starters for the rest of the season?

The Brooklyn Nets have never really had the best of luck in the league in recent years including trading away their draft picks, not making the smartest of trades player-wise, and overall just not a very well managed organization. But this time it comes in the form of injuries. Both injuries occurred to starting lineup players. The first happened on the Nets’ debut against the Pacers where Jeremy Lin ruptured his patellar tendon in his right knee which will leave him out for the rest of the season. The other player is D’Angelo Russell, which the Nets just recently acquired. Russell underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, which will also keep him out for the remainder of the season.

The bad news is that the Nets probably won’t make it into the playoffs again this season, sporting a record of 9-14 putting them 13th in the Eastern Conference. This isn't a huge surprise to me, but it is very unfortunate to see these injuries hold back the talent of these players. This year was more of a development year and getting Russell comfortable on his new team, even though now he won't even be playing. But on the lighter side, the Nets will be able to give their younger players some more minutes and let them develop.

Spencer Dinwiddie and Allen Crabbe have taken over the starting point guard and shooting guard spots and have been putting up respectable numbers, recording career highs in points, rebounds, and assists.

#1 LA Clippers

The Clipper's are going to be missing three of their starters for a little bit of the season, what does that mean for their organization?

The largest loss comes from the Los Angeles Clippers this season with four injuries on key players. The Clippers started out strong this season with a four-game winning streak leaving their opponents in most of those games down by 20 points. But then tragedy struck and the Clippers went on a 9 game losing streak in the month of November. What Happened?

The first injury came from Milos Teodosic, the Clipper’s rookie early in the season. Geodesic sustained a plantar fascia injury on his left foot, which has sidelined him until the middle of December. The next injury came a little later from Danilo Gallinari. Gallinari strained his left glute and is undetermined on when he will return. Then Patrick Beverly underwent surgery to repair a microfracture and torn meniscus in his right knee, which he is expected to miss the remainder of the season. The last injury is a huge loss in Blake Griffin. Griffin sustained a sprained left MCL and is expected to miss the next two months.

So the Clippers are missing three of their starting lineup. They are missing the huge defensive presence and ability to shut down their opposing point guards in Beverly, the 3-point shooting and floor spacing of Gallinari, and the immense paint presence of Griffin. The Clipper’s have been trying out new rotations to figure out what to do without the majority of their starting lineups, but it hasn’t been very successful as of recent.

The Clippers are 8-14 for the season putting them 10th in the Western Conference. I don’t see them making it into the Playoffs this year unless their bench players can step up and win some games against some tough competition. I can also see the frustration that DeAndre Jordan has and the many trade rumors may come true.