Predicting 5 NBA Teams That Will Be Decimated By Injuries in 2014-15

Wishing injury upon a player, especially your own, is clearly never acceptable and I'm not suggesting that's what the Philadelphia 76ers have done. However, the franchise did select an injured Joel Embiid No. 3 in the draft having prior knowledge that he will likely miss the entire year. This works into management's tanking strategy and it will have crippling effects on the ultimate outcome in terms of wins accrued.

When Brook Lopez's name is brought up in conversation, almost always the immediate reaction is his questionable health. There is no denying Lopez's astonishing offensive game, but his impact has been extremely limited throughout his career due to recurring foot problems. As a result, the big man has appeared in a grand total of 96 games, while missing 134 in the previous three seasons when the Brooklyn Nets had a serious shot at contending.

It seemed like common knowledge that the Los Angeles Lakers would endure a dismal season, but nobody expected to be without No. 7 pick Julius Randle for the remainder of the season. This is about as catastrophic as it gets, exemplified by Los Angeles' back-to-back blowout losses. This injury could wind up affecting the Lakers for years to come since Randle's development has been put on a standstill for the time being.

Winning a championship in the NBA is nearly impossible, yet the Indiana Pacers had a 2-3 year window where they probably could have won if it were not for the Miami Heat. Despite an epic collapse last year, Indiana still had the pieces in place to contend once again until Paul George snapped his leg in half during a Team USA exhibition game. That window has now closed and some pieces may be shipped out to rebuild.

Considered a Western Conference powerhouse, the Oklahoma City Thunder have now lost two of the NBA's top seven players in Kevin Durant (broken foot) and Russell Westbrook (broken hand). With a cast of role players, Oklahoma City will undoubtedly have quite a significant amount of ground to make up upon their return. The Thunder have a sixth seed written all over them.