which team has had the worst luck with injuries this year?

[[Q]]

Portland probably has had the worst timing as of late, but the Lakers have had a ton of guys go down/give up for the year

[mp3]

I know they haven't been a playoff team for years but Minny always seems to get hit pretty hard with injuries to key players dating back to Kevin Love's early days.

I would say the Bulls from the playoff bracket teams with Rose missing pretty much 2 years of basketball.

[bowdown]

Portland was supposed to be one of the emerging contenders in the West. Now Batum might have a serious knee injury as well (MRI tomorrow). Who gives a fuck about weak teams having injuries. Kobe Era is over in LA and Minny is building around Wiggins. No other scrubs on Wolves roster matter right now. Rubio maybe if he learns to fucking shoot above 40% will be running with Wiggins for the coming years.

EDIT: Yeah Bulls have to be the worst since Rose is a former MVP.

[NovU]

Probably not the "Worst Luck" but I just have to bitch cry about the Heat...

Heat would have made the playoffs safely with Bosh. But on top of Bosh dying, Deng, Whoreside, Wade all struggled mightily with injury. Potentially they could have been a dark horse but they seem to be lottery bound now.

[[Q]]

Oh yeah forgot about Minnesota. They have a ton of injuries too. I think they would have been a decent team if they'd been healthy the past couple of years. Doesn't help when your star player breaks his hand doing knuckle pushups

[Mandich]

Minnesota wasn't important even during Love years.

Portland has a history of season ending injuries last couple of years. Roy, now Matthews. A shame.

Bulls, well what can you really say that hasn't been said ?

Bosh was a killer for the Heat as they probably would advance to the 2nd round in this East.

How come nobody mentions OKC? I mean seriously?

[Kevin]

The only reason OKC is struggling to make the playoffs is because of Durant and Westbrook's injury (plus other teammates).

[Mandich]

Exactly my point.

[mp3]

My point about Minny is that straight out the gate there hit with major injuries so you never really get to see if there team would matter or not later in the season because there season is pretty much dead and buried my Christmas.

It's not even like there trying to tank either it's just plain bad luck I guess you could even date that back to the whole Joe Smith nightmare years ago.

[I Hate Mondays]

As a Bulls supporter, I would say their situation is pretty bad. There's one thing when one player goes down and he is out of the season and you deal with it. Another situation is when your players have week-to-week injuries, but at different times. If I remember correctly, the bulls had its starting lineup for 20 games only.

But the Portland and the Heat were unlucky too.

I'll also put the Lakers here, not because of Bryant but because of Randle, their future franchise player. Going down in the first season game as a rookie is ten times worse than the Joel Embiid-Nerlens Noel situation where they didn't play a game for a full season. At least they knew their status.

[Moz]

How come nobody mentions OKC? I mean seriously?

Or the Pacers...

[JAWSFreelao]

Portland has by far the worst luck. First Matthews, then Aldridge, then Wright, then Batum, then McCollum. Portland was a contender this year until they went down. and now they're an easy first round exit.

[Mandich]

Portland has by far the worst luck. First Matthews, then Aldridge, then Wright, then Batum, then McCollum. Portland was a contender this year until they went down. and now they're an easy first round exit.

Aldridge played 70 games.
Lillard 81.
Batum 71.

Mathews is a big loss.
Wright averaged 4 points a game.

Batum, Aldridge and McCollum are all questionable for Wednsdays game against Dallas, meaning the injuries ARE NOT serious.

Meanwhile, Pacers(my bad for not including them), Thunder and Bulls lose their franchise players and you put Portland over them?

EDIT: and the Heat. East is weak.

Don't believe everything you hear.

EDIT: Lakers wouldn't accomplish anything even with Kobe/Randle. Not this year.

[bowdown]

Batum may have a serious injury...MRI today. But besides that my list would be this.....

1. Bulls....Rose permanently damaged.
2. OKC.... Definite contenders with serious injury to MVP and others..
3. Blazers... Emerging contendors with injuries to key starters and role players....Some serious.

[Lamrock]

OKC of course. They were actually contenders before losing the league MVP and their best defensive player. Portland and Chicago have also been hampered, but they never had a serious shot at going all the way. Meanwhile, tanking teams like the Lakers and Wolves are arguably better off as a result.

[benji]

Why does a thread titled "this year" have so much talk about past seasons/decades?

[NovU]

Just to consider this year, the Bulls haven't suffered the most. They suffered worse in previous seasons.

In my book, it's a coin flip between Thunder and Blazers. Maybe the Heat too because my bias.

[Andrew]

The Bulls have been unlucky, but their players have all returned this season. Even Derrick Rose is back on the court after going under the knife a little over a month ago.

I'd probably agree with the Thunder having the worst luck, with Durant missing the beginning of the season and ultimately being ruled out for the year after playing just 27 games. Ibaka was scratched in March and although he's also been around and putting up numbers, Westbrook was also out for a little bit as well. As Lamrock mentioned, they should've been contenders, and while they're still in position to get into the postseason in the eighth spot, that's well below expectations due to those major injuries.

[JAWSFreelao]

Wright averaged 4 points a game.

Batum, Aldridge and McCollum are all questionable for Wednsdays game against Dallas, meaning the injuries ARE NOT serious.

Meanwhile, Pacers(my bad for not including them), Thunder and Bulls lose their franchise players and you put Portland over them?

Yes, I put Portland over them. Because if not for the Thunder trading they wouldn't even be in the playoffs. The Pacers are fortunate to be having a Rodney Stuckey/CJ Miles revolution ( as well as being in the east), and Chicago has just gotten good at playing with what they have, as well as being in the east too). Portland was a contender with Matthews. Wright had finally started playing a good role on the team- getting some actual minutes. McCollum was showing us what he looked like when he didn't have a foot injury. I'm a little biased (living in Portland and whatnot) but regardless just some bad luck, regardless of whether or not the injuries are serious.

[Moz]

The Pacers are fortunate to be having a Rodney Stuckey/CJ Miles revolution

But unfortunately, Hill and Hibbert are doing alternates in the sidelines because they keep on having setbacks... I reckon it's safe to say that both the Bulls and Blazers can be excused for being "unlucky" since both teams have a coach who run their starters heavy minutes...

[[Q]]

Sure, okc has had great players go down, but they haven't been completely decimated by injury and forced to sign players under the injury hardship just to play games. They've managed to stay afloat in the west with guys coming in and out of the lineup

[Andrew]

Here's another candidate: the Milwaukee Bucks. Just the one major injury, but it's a serious knee injury to their top draft pick, (at the time) potential Rookie of the Year, and a key part of their future: Jabari Parker. That was some terrible luck.