The 2026-27 NBA season is barely a week old, and the injury list is already growing. On Friday night alone, three of the league’s brightest young players went down: Cooper Flagg, Paolo Banchero and Jalen Duren. All three are now set to miss time.
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Dallas will feel it most quickly. Flagg, the No. 1 pick in 2025 and the reigning Rookie of the Year, was hurt late in the second quarter of the Mavericks’ 121-105 win at Indiana. Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith fouled him from behind on a breakaway dunk, and Flagg landed hard on his left shoulder. Nesmith was called for a Flagrant 1, and Flagg did not return.
An MRI on Saturday revealed a mild left shoulder sprain, and Flagg will be re-evaluated next week. Without him, and with Kyrie Irving resting on the second night of a back-to-back, Dallas lost its home opener to the San Antonio Spurs 122-106.
However, a mild sprain doesn’t make things easy for Dallas. Flagg is the center of everything in Dallas. He scored 32 points in the season-opening loss to Houston, the most ever by a teenager in a season opener, and had 14 points, six assists, and five rebounds in just 17 minutes at Indiana before getting hurt.
The Mavericks are currently 1-2, and will be without their star when they face a struggling Miami side, who will be looking to get the season underway.
Apart from him, Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero, an All-Star and their best player, is also out as per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero has sustained a low-grade right high ankle sprain, sources tell ESPN,” Charania wrote. “This injury diagnosis typically carries a timetable of 4-to-6 weeks.”
Banchero was hurt in Friday’s 115-93 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. He told the Orlando Sentinel that Desmond Bane fell into his ankle in the first quarter, and that he felt it again in the third before asking to come out.
“Most of all my ankle sprains have always been to the outside, so this is kind of foreign to me,” Banchero said. “So a little scary in that way.”
Injury right now might be bad news for the team. Banchero opened the season with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds on 10-of-12 shooting, and the Magic are 0-2 at the start of the season.
Finally, Detroit lost its center the same night. Duren, a first-time All-Star and All-NBA Third Team pick last season, strained his right hamstring in the second quarter of the Pistons’ 128-111 win in Miami. He had four points, six rebounds and three assists in 10 minutes before heading to the locker room.
Paul Reed took his spot to start the second half and finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pistons announced Sunday that Duren will be re-evaluated in two weeks. He averaged a career-high 19.5 points last season and signed a five-year extension this month that ESPN put at about $200 million.
An NBA early season plagued with injuries
The current NBA season is already seeing a pattern of stars missing games, be it through injuries or caution, and the above-mentioned three injuries add to it.
The Golden State Warriors have felt it the most. The team entered the regular season already handicapped given the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, Jimmy Butler, and Moses Moody.
On Saturday in Phoenix, they also sat Stephen Curry for right knee injury management on the second night of a back-to-back, while Draymond Green was doubtful with low back soreness. The Warriors lost to the Suns and are 0-3 for the first time in Curry’s career.
Similarly, the 76ers are managing LeBron James the same way. The 41-year-old sat Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks for low back and sciatica management, the first night of the 76ers’ weekend back-to-back.
Thus, the teams are resting their best until they’re needed in the heat of battle. However, the injuries to Flagg, Banchero, and Duren were not planned, and that will leave their teams adjusting the rotation without their star players in the first week of the season.