The Pelicans expected to receive Yves Missy back for Saturday’s game against Denver, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. There is a center for the third year officially listed as likely to play in today’s contest after missing the last 11 contests with a left knee contusion / bone knock.
The 6-foot-11, who played one season of college basketball at Baylor, Miss., was New Orleans’ starting center. The 22-year-old performed well in a three-point loss at Indiana, finishing with 13 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in 30 minutes before being injured in the second quarter of the team’s second game of the season.
It is unclear whether Missy will assume a starting role immediately upon his return. It wouldn’t be surprising if he came off the bench for a while after the three-week absence. Missy will be eligible for a rookie extension next offseason.
While Missy is expected to return to the starting line-up Trey Murphy III continues to be burdened by bilateral patellar tendinopathy. The 6-foot-8 forward will miss his fourth straight game Saturday with a knee problem.
We have other NBA injury news:
- Star forward Scotty Barnes (left adductor tension) missed Predators“last four games and is considered questionable to face Sunday against New York, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Link to Twitter). Barnes sat out part of Saturday’s practice. Kawhi Leonardin the meantime, continues to do individual work on the site, adds Grange. Leonard, who was named Finals MVP when Toronto won the title in 2019, has been limited to two appearances this season due to swelling in his left knee. Seven-time All NBA forward pending reassessment beginning of next week.
- Mavericks security guard Max Christie According to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News, he has been downgraded to questionable for Saturday’s game against Cleveland because of a sprained left ankle (Link to Twitter). Christie was a bright spot for the Mavericks last season and started the first seven games of 2026/27 before being injured thigh injury causing him to miss one game. Since returning to the lineup, the former second-round pick has averaged just 9.5 minutes per game over four appearances amid declining shooting. However, the head coach Dusty May recently endorsed Christie, writes Grant Offset of the Dallas Sports Journal. “We haven’t lost faith in Max” May said of Christie, who holds an $8.9 million player option for next season.I think he’s been a little unlucky this year when he’s been defending at a high level and guys have been making strong shots. (He) just (has to) keep playing with confidence to get back to where he’s not overthinking and just let the game come to him and play. He brings a lot of things to this team that we need. We just have a lot of really good players and some guys are playing a little bit better at the moment.”
- Fast forward to the second year Noah Penda is making progress in recovering from a partially torn right hamstring, an injury he suffered in magic‘s preseason finale on Oct. 16, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes. There is no timetable for Penda’s return, but the Frenchman told Bide he is “feeling better” and is glad he was able to resume light work on the court so soon after suffering the injury. “I didn’t know what coming back from a serious injury would look like” – said Penda. “I’m a guy who needs to move a lot and above all I love basketball. So, I was kind of relieved when you saw me in New York for the shoot (three weeks ago). It’s good mentally to be able to do it all so quickly. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I know that at least I can touch the ball and get on the court, and that’s good.”
- Injuries (Thunder, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Halliburton, Jalen DurenLeonard, etc.) have been a major storyline in the first few weeks of the season, and there are no signs of that changing anytime soon, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. Last season, only 36 players missed fewer than five games; during the 2015/16 campaign, that number was 97. Injuries are the main reason rosters were expanded from 13/12 to 15 and then from 15 to 18 after two-way contracts were implemented, Hollinger notes, and teams were forced to use all of their players more often. While health has always played an important role in postseason success, it seems more important than ever to get lucky with injuries at the right time rather than having the best team on paper, Hollinger wrote.
