The 2026–27 NBA season is just a month old to this day, and the injury bug is already feasting. Surgeries. Torn ligaments. Stretchers. A superstar playing through pain until it caught up with him. Here are the notable names who have gone down, and what their teams lost with them.
The Season-Altering Blows
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
This is the most gruesome one this NBA season so far. Williams was hurt on a drive with 1:14 left in Oklahoma City’s win over the Clippers, and the game was stopped for about five minutes. He fractured his left fibula and dislocated the ankle, and the Thunder won, 108-101. He has since had surgery involving reconstruction of his ankle ligaments and will be evaluated before the end of the regular season. It is a cruel twist for a player who was limited to 33 games last year and was just starting a five-year, $239 million max extension.
Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder
Same game, second blow. Wallace tore the labrum in his left shoulder after running into a moving screen, and he had signed a five-year, $139 million extension just a week earlier. He will also be re-evaluated before the end of the NBA regular season.
Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
The third Oklahoma City starter to go down, and the most surprising. Holmgren felt mild discomfort in his right knee on the day of the Clippers game, and further testing found a small patellar tendon tear. He had a biological treatment afterward and is expected to return in 8 to 10 weeks. He had averaged 12 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3 blocks, and it is his first extended absence since a pelvic fracture in November 2024. The Thunder were 4-1 at the start of the season and are suddenly thin.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards played through it, and that’s the story. He grabbed his right knee in the Wolves’ home opener against the Toronto Raptors, then scored 47 against the Cleveland Cavaliers a couple of days later, though he lacked his usual burst and occasionally limped. He played 41 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back after showing up as questionable. An MRI later revealed new damage not seen in earlier scans, and he underwent a successful arthroscopic debridement at the Mayo Clinic. He had averaged 33.3 points through four games in this NBA season. The return is reported at roughly two months, somewhere between late December and January.
Weeks on the NBA Shelf
Ja Morant, Portland Trail Blazers
The reunion with the Memphis Grizzlies went wrong. Morant had 14 points and 3 assists in 23 minutes in his first game against his former team before leaving in the fourth quarter of a 124-103 loss. Imaging revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and he’ll be re-evaluated in four weeks. He won’t be back before Thanksgiving. He had averaged 15.8 points and 5.5 assists in Portland’s first four games. The Blazers are also without Shaedon Sharpe, who is out until the spring after knee surgery, but they bounced back to beat Utah on Saturday.
Jaren Jackson Jr., Utah Jazz
Utah’s big bet is already hurting. Jackson tore his MCL in the second quarter of a 110-105 loss to Memphis when Ty Jerome fell into his leg. He is looking at six to eight weeks and played just three games for Utah last NBA season before surgery. The Jazz are now 1-5 after a 112-90 loss to Portland, and they have lost four in a row.
Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
He suffered a low-grade right high ankle sprain after landing awkwardly on a rebound with Jalen Suggs in a 115-93 loss to Minnesota. He felt discomfort in the first quarter but played through it. The typical timeline is four to six weeks.
Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic
Two days later, another starter fell. Suggs took off for a full-speed layup, his right knee gave out, and he couldn’t leave the court on his own. An MRI showed only a mild bone bruise, and he’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks as Orlando won at New York, 111-102.
Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors
The honeymoon was short. After scoring 39 total points in Toronto’s first two games, he was held out of Toronto’s 117-94 loss at Minnesota. ESPN reports he’s expected to miss a period of weeks with swelling in his left knee, and that the MRI showed no structural damage.
Alex Caruso, Oklahoma City Thunder
The fourth Oklahoma City name on the list. He didn’t return to Monday’s 125-114 win over Phoenix after spraining his right ankle. He’s listed as out until at least November 4.
Bumps in the Road
Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
The man who just returned from a torn Achilles is hurt again. He has a mild left hamstring strain after playing the first four games. It came after his first back-to-back since returning. Rick Carlisle doesn’t think it’s realistic for him to play within two weeks.
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
The ink was barely dry. Duren signed his five-year, $200 million extension on October 1. He then exited in the second quarter of Detroit’s 128-111 win at Miami with a right hamstring strain, and he’ll be out at least two weeks.
The Bottom Line
Twelve names. Fifteen-plus injuries across the NBA. Five teams have lost at least one core player, and Oklahoma City has lost four. The injury bug doesn’t care about contracts, NBA All-Star selections, or title hopes. It just keeps biting. And the season is barely underway.
