NBA: 15 players looking to shed injury-prone label in 2017-18

10. Alec Burks

It wasn’t long ago that Alec Burks seemed like a player ready to make the jump from “super sixth man” to “legitimate NBA starter” with the Utah Jazz. In 2013-14, he averaged 14.0 points per game on .457/.350/.748 shooting splits in 78 appearances.

He signed a four-year, $42 million extension that summer and was making good on it early in 2014-15, posting 13.9 points per game on 38.2 percent shooting from 3-point range through the first 27 games.

Then he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury and everything changed. Since that disappointing 27-game season, Burks has missed 51 and 40 games due to ankle problems requiring surgery.

He doesn’t have to worry about free agency until 2019, but with Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, Donovan Mitchell and Raul Neto in the same backcourt, a healthy season would go a long way in lining up a new NBA home for when he’s eventually squeezed from the roster.