Leonard went down with a torn ACL during the second round of the playoffs last season, and has not played since. It’s still unclear if he’s going to return this season, but if he does it won’t be until some time in the spring. There likely won’t be any definitive updates until then, and whether or not the Clippers can hang in the playoff race will likely play a part in determining his recovery plan.
The last time we saw Thompson was Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Since then he’s undergone two major surgeries, one for a torn ACL and the other for a torn Achilles tendon. Now, finally, he’s on the verge of a return. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that Thompson is back to playing 5-on-5 again, and a recent report from The Athletic indicated that Thompson has been cleared to be a full participant in practice. If all goes well, the Warriors are hoping to have Thompson back ahead of Christmas. That would be a major boost to a team that already has the best record in the league.
One of the biggest names on the injury list this season is Williamson. The Pelicans’ young star suffered a fractured foot in the summer, which the Pelicans kept secret until media day. The team then claimed he would be ready for opening night, but that was obviously not the case. In fact, Williamson wasn’t even cleared to begin contact drills until earlier this week. He’s set to undergo further scans closer to Thanksgiving to determine whether or not he can join team workouts, at which point we’ll have a better picture of when he’ll be able to play again. Without him, the Pelicans have been a mess, and are currently 3-15.
The Nuggets have been without their star guard since late last season, when he tore his ACL against the Warriors. Murray has been ramping up his workouts and said recently that he feels “great.” However, he won’t be back on the court until some time in the spring at the earliest. Whether the Nuggets can remain afloat without him and Porter remains to be seen.
Irving falls into the same category as Ben Simmons, where he’s not actually injured, but he has to be mentioned since he hasn’t played all season. The Nets star is still unvaccinated against COVID-19, which means he is not able to enter Barclays Center for home games due to New York City’s health mandates. While Irving would be eligible to play on the road, the Nets decided not to include him as a part-time player. He’s been away from the team since training camp, and will not play until he either receives the vaccine or the mandates in New York change.
Embiid has, once again, struggled with a knee issue to start the season. However, the reason he’s been sidelined recently is COVID-19. The big man tested positive earlier this month and will be out until at least Nov. 27 as he goes through the league’s health and safety protocols. He should be good to go whenever he gets cleared, but you never truly know how players will react after a bout with the virus, especially considering Sixers head coach Doc Rivers revealed that Embiid was symptomatic. “He’s not doing great,” Rivers said . “He’s struggling with it, very similar to Tobias [Harris].”
The Simmons saga is well known at this point. And though he doesn’t have a physical injury we’ll include him here since he is reportedly dealing with mental health issues. He doesn’t want to play for the Sixers anymore, and the team hasn’t found a trade they like and neither side will budge as the standoff continues. Most recently, the two sides have been in dispute over Simmons’ mental health treatment, and the team recently resumed fining Simmons.
The No. 3 overall pick got off to a flying start this season, so much so that opposing coaches are reportedly jealous they don’t get to coach him. But the positive momentum for both him and the Cavaliers came to a halt earlier this month when he sprained his elbow against the Boston Celtics. Mobley is expected to miss two-to-four weeks, so he’ll be out until at least early December. The good news is this doesn’t seem like it will be a long-term issue.
No one has ever questioned Porter’s talent, but there have been plenty of concerns about his ability to stay healthy. Those fears have popped up again now that Porter is dealing with another back injury. The young forward has been out since the team’s win over the Rockets earlier this month, and is now dealing with a nerve issue that could threaten his season, per the Denver Post . Nuggets head coach Michael Malone also revealed that Porter is not with the team and is instead in Florida meeting with doctors.
Batum was the latest player to enter the league’s health and safety protocols, and missed the Clippers’ win over the Mavericks on Sunday. He’ll miss at least 10 days, according to a report from The Athletic , while head coach Ty Lue said , “I’m not sure the days, but I expect him to be out (a while) … not sure the timetable.” Batum will be a big loss for the Clippers, who are already without star wing Kawhi Leonard.
Williams has emerged as a talented and athletic big man for the Celtics — at least when he can stay on the court. He’s been injury prone to start his career and has already been sidelined for four games this season. Most recently, he’s dealing with a knee problem the team has termed “tendinopathy.” His official status remains day-to-day, but he’s been out for a week now and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready for the team’s next game against the Rockets on Monday.
Vucevic tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month and has been sidelined since Nov. 11. The good news is that he has now cleared the league’s health and safety protocols. When he’ll actually, play, however, remains to be seen. “He’ll be cleared (to play) when the doctors and the physicians feel comfortable that he’s passed everything,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said . “He can be around our team. He’s out of all of that stuff. And now that next step is the cardiovascular testing.”
The Heat’s 3-point specialist — who is actually shooting just 33.1 percent from downtown in a rough start to the season — left the team’s loss to the Wizards this week with a knee contusion and did not return. There’s currently no timeline for his return, and knee contusions are notoriously tricky. We’ll have to keep an eye on Robinson’s situation over the next few days, during which we’ll surely learn more.
Harris rolled his ankle during the Nets’ win over the Thunder earlier this month and has not played since. So far he’s missed the team’s last three games, and head coach Steve Nash said on Sunday that he’ll be out for at least two more. This is an annoying injury for Harris and the Nets, but the good news is it doesn’t seem like it should be any sort of long-term issue.
The Lakers signed Ariza with the hope that he could provide some extra depth and veteran leadership on the wing, but he suffered an ankle injury during training camp and has not played yet. By the sounds of it, that’s not going to change anytime soon. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel recently spoke to the media and said that Ariza is “still a ways away” from returning. The initial timeline was eight weeks, which would have put Ariza’s return sometime in early-to-mid December, but Vogel’s comments make it seem like he could take longer to recover.
Williams, the No. 4 overall pick last year, was off to an encouraging start along with the Bulls. But against the New York Knicks he took a hard foul from Mitchell Robinson and suffered a serious wrist injury upon landing. He is out until at least April due to a dislocation and torn ligaments that required surgery. We should get an update in the spring about whether or not he’ll be able to return for the playoffs — assuming the Bulls continue in this form and make a deep run.
The Cavaliers’ fourth-year guard went down with a knee injury against the Knicks in early November. A few weeks later, the team announced that he had in fact suffered a torn meniscus, which required season-ending surgery. There’s never a good time for a major injury, but this was especially unfortunate for Sexton, who is set to be a free agent this summer. Sexton was reportedly looking for a deal in the four-year, $100 million range, and it will be interesting to see if he can still command that value.
Wiseman’s frustrating rookie campaign came to an end back in April when he tore his meniscus upon landing from a dunk attempt. He’s been sidelined since then but is now closing in on a return. Earlier this month he returned to practice in full and has had no setbacks since amping up his activity level. While they haven’t determined a specific game just yet, the Warriors could have him back in the lineup by Thanksgiving week.
Few players have had a worse year than Warren, who has been beset by bad injury luck. A stress fracture in his foot limited him to just four games last season, then he suffered a setback in his recovery over the summer and has still not been able to return to the court. Recent updates have been positive, and Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said Warren’s most recent scans were “great news.” Still, even under the best of circumstances he won’t be back until late December or January. The team is not going to rush this given everything he’s gone through over the past year.
Oladipo ruptured his quad tendon in January of 2019, and has really never been right since then. He’s played just 88 games over the last three-plus seasons, and has not participated at all in this campaign. A recent report from the Miami Herald indicated that the Heat are hopeful he’ll be able to play by March, but he’s recovering from a secondary surgery on his quad in the offseason and there’s no set timeline for his return.
Milwaukee has gotten off to a rough start in its title defense, largely due to injuries. One of the most notable is Lopez’s back injury, which has kept him off the court since opening night. It’s still not clear exactly what’s wrong, but Lopez does seem to be on the mend. “My low back has been coming along pretty positively the last couple of weeks,” Lopez said in a recent interview . “We’ve done some off-court stuff the past couple of days and we just keep ramping it up. It’s going very well.”
Fultz seemed like he had finally found a home with the Magic last season, and then he almost immediately tore his ACL in a cruel twist of fate. The Magic front office has been pretty tight-lipped about any sort of updates, but Wendell Carter Jr. revealed in a recent interview that Fultz is now back on the court. “Markelle’s been in a couple of the practices with us,” Carter said . “Kinda just running through the plays, doing some defensive stuff with us. He looks good.” That’s a positive sign, but it’s still unclear when Fultz will be ready for games again.
The last time Isaac was on the court was over a year ago in the bubble in Orlando, when he suffered a devastating knee injury that included a torn meniscus and ACL. While it makes sense that the Magic are taking the cautious route with a player who has been frequently injured, it’s a bit surprising that Isaac isn’t closer to a return. We’re going on 16 months now since the injury and there’s still no timeline. Even stranger is that based on a recent interview with Wendell Carter Jr., it appears as though Isaac hasn’t progressed to doing much on-court work, if any. “JI’s also doing a fantastic job,” Carter said . “He’s always in early in the morning before we even get there, before our practices and stuff. He’s already on the table getting treatment on his knee, lifting, all that stuff. He’s doing good.”
The veteran Heat forward was injured in a bizarre incident with Nikola Jokic earlier this month. After Morris delivered a reckless foul late in a blowout loss, Jokic retaliated with a cheap shot of his own to Morris’ back, which resulted in a neck injury. Morris hasn’t played since and will be out through at least the remainder of the Heat’s road trip that lasts until Nov. 27. Coincidentally, their first game back at home on the 29th is against Jokic and the Nuggets. Whether Morris will be ready to go by then, however, is still unknown.
Another key injured player for the Bucks is DiVincenzo, who still hasn’t played yet this season. He tore a ligament in his ankle during the first round of the playoffs against the Heat last season, and there’s no timeline yet for his return. A bit of good news, though, is that he was recently spotted going through a fairly strenuous workout prior to the team’s game against the Thunder.
The veteran big man was off to a pretty solid start in his first season with the Pistons, but he went down with a Grade II MCL sprain after 10 games. He didn’t need surgery, which was good news, but the initial timeline was a hefty six weeks. Barring any setbacks he should be back around Christmas, but the struggling Pistons might already be out of the playoff race by that point.
Hunter has had some promising moments for the Hawks, but has not been able to get an extended run of games since his rookie season. He played just 23 games last season, and missed most of the Hawks’ playoff run due to knee injuries, including a torn meniscus that required offseason surgery. While he was ready to go this season, he only managed to play 11 games before suffering a wrist tendon injury that will keep him on the bench for eight weeks.
Collins got off to a promising start in his career with the Trail Blazers, but injuries have completely destroyed the past two-plus seasons. He was limited to 11 games in 2019-20, and hasn’t played since due to shoulder surgery and multiple ankle operations. Collins signed with the Spurs in the offseason, and head coach Gregg Popovich said that the medical staff hopes the big man will be back after Christmas. A more definitive timeline will have to wait.
The former lottery pick was granted a leave of absence for personal reasons prior to the season and has not played. In fact, prior to this week he hadn’t even been around the team. That changed earlier this week, however, as Hachimura participated in shootaround prior to the Wizards’ game against the Heat. He’s expected to join their G League squad, the Go-Go, and will practice and possibly play with them in the short-term. Beyond that, it’s simply impossible to say right now when he’ll be rejoin the Wizards, who are off to a fantastic start.
Another Wizards big man who has been stuck on the bench all season is Thomas Bryant. He went down with a torn ACL back in January, and is now reaching the final stages of his rehab. Earlier this month, a report from The Athletic indicated that the Wizards are hoping to have Bryant back before the start of the new year. Anything more specific will have to wait.
Anunoby was one of the favorites to win Most Improved Player this season, and he was showing exactly why through the first 15 games. Unfortunately, his strong start to the season came to a stop earlier this month when he suffered a hip pointer that will keep him out indefinitely. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said that the team’s vice president of player health and performance, Alex McKechnie, told him “it’ll be a while.” What that means exactly is hard to say, but it seems like Anunoby could miss more than a few games. That’s a tough break for him and the Raptors.
