The NBA's "unprecedented" injury crisis to start the season has everyone searching for answers, even though it's obvious: Shorten the season and/or the games themselves. FIBA games last 40 minutes, not 48, and the pace at which these players are asked to play and the ground they have to cover in a way more spaced-out game, to say nothing of the force they're creating as bigger and more powerful athletes than the league has ever seen, is going to continue breeding injuries. We'll see what, if anything, the NBA decides to do about it.
My guess is the almighty dollar will continue to win. The league wants as many games as possible for maximum revenue -- both in-arena and through TV contracts -- and if the players have to drop their salaries for playing fewer games, well, it's hard to see that happening either. And so we're left to deal with a league that is quickly being defined as much by the players who aren't playing as those who are.
And it's having a major impact on the competitive landscape -- which is what we're here to look at in this article. Below I have ranked the 10 most significant injuries this season in terms of how much impact they will have on the postseason seeding race. I'm not going to look ahead to how it might affect the playoffs as an extension of that, because the playoffs are a different beast where matchups are paramount.
We will look at the postseason health status of the relevant teams as we get closer to that point. But as seeding races go, what's happening right now is just as important as what happens later in the season. The games all count the same.
This is all subject to change as more injuries, unfortunately, are likely to arise, and timetables could be extended for those teams are already dealing with. But given the information we have at this moment, and with as realistic a projection as possible, here's where I come out on the injury-impact rankings. *NOTE: I have not included any of the injuries that existed prior to the season starting. We knew about those and accounted for them in our season outlooks.
So no Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Kon Kneuppel, Coby White (who's expected back Monday night) or Brandon Ingram, among others. Jalen Williams' injury is obviously worse, but in terms of impact on their respective teams, Minnesota is facing a bigger uphill challenge without Edwards through Christmas than the Thunder are without Williams for the whole season. Edwards was off to a torrid start, averaging 33.3 points and leading the league in 3-pointers at the time of injury.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
