NBA: 10 players looking to shed injury-prone label in 2018-19

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Regular honorable mentions

Cody Zeller — Zeller hasn’t played more than 73 game since his rookie year in 2013-14, missed 20 games two years ago and only played in 33 games last year.
Gary Harris — Harris has missed 27, six, 25 and 15 games in his first four seasons. It’s not a major source of concern yet, but entering the first year of his contract extension, staying on the court will be important.
Dion Waiters — Waiters played 80 and 78 games in back-to-back seasons before joining the Miami Heat, but has missed 36 and 52 games in the two years since.

The lost causes/”too-old-to-change” guys

Chandler Parsons — Parsons hasn’t reached the 70-game threshold since 2013-14, and has missed 48 and 46 games over the last two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies. Parsons turns 30 in October, so this is more than likely a permanent sunk cost.
Joakim Noah — Noah played a grand total of seven games last year, 46 games the year prior and 29 games the season before that. He’ll turn 34 in December. Yeesh.
Chris Paul — Aside from being a regular threat to injure himself in a playoff series, Paul has missed 24 and 21 games over the last two seasons. That’s unlikely to change in his age-33 season, however.
Danilo Gallinari — Gallo would be a great small-ball 4 in the modern NBA if he could stay healthy, but going back to his ACL tear in 2013, the 30-year-old has missed 82, 23, 29, 19 and 61 games over the next five seasons.

The recent concerns

Michael Carter-Williams — MCW has played only 66, 54, 45 and 52 games in the last four seasons of his five-year career, and even in his Rookie of the Year season, he only played 70. If he were a more prominent player, he’d probably have cracked the top 10.
Zach LaVine — LaVine struggled to shake off the rust of his ACL tear in 24 games with the Chicago Bulls last year. After being rewarded with a four-year, $78 million deal, the pressure is on to do so.
Isaiah Thomas — Most have given up on Isaiah Thomas after his hip injury and how bad he looked in 32 games last year, but don’t forget, it was only the year before that when he played in 76 and 82 games in back-to-back seasons.
Jeremy Lin — Lin was generally healthy until he joined the Brooklyn Nets, where he missed 56 games in his first season and was lost for the year on opening night in his second season with the team.
Kristaps Porzingis — ACL tears are scary for any seven-footer, let alone one who’s missed 10, 16 and 34 games in his first three NBA seasons and is expected to save one of the league’s premier big-market franchises.
Markelle Fultz — We shouldn’t overreact to one season, but a No. 1 draft pick missing all but 14 regular season game due to a bizarre combination of the yips and a shoulder injury is worth monitoring.
Mike Conley — Conley missed all but 12 games last year, but he’s normally in the 60-70 range. Hopefully the last few years have just been a series of unlucky flukes.
Rudy Gobert — Gobert has played exactly 81 games in two of his last four seasons, but in the other two, he’s missed 21 and 26 contests. The Utah Jazz need him out there to take the next step in 2018-19.
Gordon Hayward — Hopefully a year from now we can look back and say this wasn’t an issue, but after that horrific ankle fracture on opening night, we have to at least keep an eye on him as he returns to the hardwood.