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Unlike the 2016-17 regular season campaign, which was a comparatively fortunate time frame in terms of player injuries in the NBA, this season has seen a spate of injuries troubling some of the league's best teams. At least 3 teams which were supposed to be in the race for the Playoffs are now out of contention because of these debilitating injuries, while a number of others are holding on to their playoff spots with dear life, stretching the rest of their rosters to the limit.
The talent outflux due to injuries is so high this season that we could actually make a 12-player roster out of those players who would be title contenders if they were all fit and on the same team. The criteria for inclusion in this piece is that the player in question should miss at least 40% or more of the 2017-18 regular season campaign.
Let's take a look at the 12 players who make the cut in our All-Injured Roster for this season.
BACKCOURT RESERVES
Shooting guard: Zach LaVine
The 13th pick in the 2014 NBA draft, former Timberwolves player Zach LaVine's major claims to fame are his back-to-back wins at the Slam Dunk Challenge in 2015 and 2016. He is one of the most athletic players in the league ever, with a vertical leap of 46 inches.
Before going down with a torn ACL on his left knee in February last year, LaVine was averaging a career-best 18.9 points per game. His potential led to him becoming a makeweight on an offseason trade which sent him and Kris Dunn to the Chicago Bulls and Jimmy Butler to Minnesota. LaVine has missed 44 of the 67 games the Bulls have played this season due to his recovery.
Point guard: Patrick Beverley
Having been sent to the Los Angeles Clippers from the Houston Rockets in one of the blockbuster trades this offseason, Beverley went down with a season-ending injury to the meniscus on his right knee on 22nd November.
Beverley is a 2-time NBA All-Defensive team selection, making the first team All-Defense in 2017.
Point guard: Jeremy Lin
Jeremy Lin first shot to fame in a New York Knicks jersey, leading a turnaround of the franchise's fortunes as they recovered from a shaky 8-15 start and went on a 7-game winning streak after Lin started receiving major minutes.
Since then, Lin has played for the Rockets, Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets with varying degrees of success. He ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee in the Nets' season opener and underwent season-ending surgery in October.
FRONTCOURT RESERVES
Power Forward/Center: Kristaps Porzingis
The 3rd year forward-center from Latvia was lighting up the NBA and singlehandedly keeping the New York Knicks in the playoff hunt through the 48 games he appeared for them this season. Putting up career highs in points (22.3), 3-point percentage (39.7%) and blocks (2.4), the Zinger was selected as an All-Star for the first time in his career this year.
Tragedy struck, however, as Porzingis tore his left ACL in a losing cause against the Milwaukee Bucks in early February, ending any chances the Knicks had of making the playoffs.
Small Forward: Chandler Parsons
A product of the Florida Gators system, Chandler Parsons has been one of the NBA's most underrated swingmen. On his day, in full form and fitness, Parsons can score buckets at will.
Such days have been few and far between, however, as Parsons has struggled to maintain a clean bill of health since signing with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2014 offseason. His career-best scoring average for a season came in his 3rd year in the league when he put up 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists to go with 1.2 steals per game.
Parsons is currently playing for the tanking Memphis Grizzlies, scoring 8.1 points per game in 19.9 minutes. Expect him to be near his peak, however, with a healthy roster surrounding him next season.
Small Forward/Power Forward: Jabari Parker
As the 2nd pick of a loaded 2014 draft, Jabari Parker's health, or the lack of it, has held him back from having a true breakout season with which to establish his credentials as an elite NBA player. He was on the verge of it, however, last season, when he played 51 games and scored 20.1 points per game in those outings.
He went down with a torn ACL in his left knee last February, and consequently missed 51 games of the 2017-18 season. Having played in 17 games so far, Parker is putting up 11.1 points in 21 minutes per outing, and will be a key player in the Bucks' rotation come playoff time.
Power Forward: Paul Millsap
Paul Millsap was one of the most underrated players in the NBA for a number of years, playing for the low-profile Utah Jazz during the first 7 years of his career and quietly putting up 16/8 seasons. He signed a 2-year, $19-million deal with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013 and played there for 4 years, appearing in the All-Star game all four years.
Following his return to the Western Conference this summer with the Denver Nuggets, Millsap went down with a wrist injury on his left hand and missed 44 games for the franchise before returning to action on 27th February.
Starting Point Guard: Mike Conley
For a long time, Conley has been recognized as the best player never to be honored with a selection to the All-Star game. The 11th-year veteran has become the most important player on a Grizzlies franchise that is languishing right at the bottom of the NBA standings with an 18-49 record including an ongoing 18-game losing streak after getting off to a 7-4 start when Conley was still fit.
Conley went down with a season-ending Achilles injury on November 13th. With him faded away whatever chances the Grizzlies had of making the playoffs. 2 weeks after his injury, head coach David Fizdale was fired by the front office, and Memphis entered the list of franchises tanking hard this season.
Starting Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha
Currently placed at 8th in the Western Conference standings, the Utah Jazz has made a real turnaround since December, when they lost Gobert for an extended period with a knee injury. As they were fighting their way back up the Western Conference standings, ace defender Thabo Sefolosha went down to a season-ending MCL injury on his right knee.
The Swiss swingman has long had a reputation as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and his ability to make the 3-ball and score off cuts made him one of the better 3-and-D options plying their trade in the league. Sefolosha made the 2010 All-NBA Defensive Second team, and was a starter on the Oklahoma City Thunder when they made the NBA Finals in 2012.
Starting Small Forward: Kawhi Leonard
We have been deprived of the sheer joy of watching the best two-way player doing it all for the San Antonio Spurs this season due to a quad injury that just refuses to go away. At the start of the season, Leonard was expected to return in a couple of weeks. When he finally did make the court on a minutes restriction for the Spurs in December, something seemed awry about the way he moved.
After 9 games, Kawhi Leonard was given an indefinite leave of absence to rest and recuperate his injury fully. Now that the San Antonio Spurs find themselves in 9th place on the Western Conference standings, his absence from the court seems even more glaring as the Spurs fight off a number of injuries to other players on their aging roster.
Starting Power Forward: Gordon Hayward
Less than halfway through the first quarter of the season-opening Celtics vs Cavaliers game, new free agent signing Gordon Hayward went down with one of the most awful injuries in NBA history as he landed awkwardly on his ankle while attempting to catch a Kyrie Irving lob.
Hayward made his first appearance in the All-Star game in 2017, and was widely expected to be a two-way difference maker for a Celtics franchise looking to contend for its first NBA title since 2008. Though the Celtics have marched on valiantly to the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference, they would be a much better proposition to make the NBA Finals this year with Hayward fit and firing on all cylinders.
While Hayward himself has not ruled out a return this season, the Celtics would be better advised to keep him under wraps till next season - when we can see a fully fit Gordon Hayward - who ranks among the league's best two-way players in full health.
Starting Center: DeMarcus Cousins
When fit and in full flow, there are few forces more unstoppable than DeMarcus Cousins down at the low post. Cousins is a straight-up bully at that, but the rest of his offensive skillset is so well-refined that he has been the best center in all of basketball for around 2-3 years now.
The New Orleans Pelicans were finally coming into their own with a fully fit core of Rajon Rondo, Jrue Holliday, Anthony Davis and Cousins when they lost their All-NBA center to a season-ending Achilles injury in late January. Through 48 games of the regular season, Cousins was averaging 24.9 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on 47% shooting from the floor and 35.4% from 3-point range.
The Pelicans will still make the Playoffs with Anthony Davis playing the best basketball of his career, but they have lost the ability to advance too deep into a Western Conference playoff bracket loaded with many other talented and deep teams.
