Opening night or late-season debuts? Key NBA superstar injury returns to watch for

Shams Charania joins “NBA Today” to explain why there is no set timeline for Joel Embiid to return from injury. (0:55) We’re a week away from opening tipoff for the 2025-26 NBA season with a few familiar faces and some new ones ready to take the court starting Oct. 21. Victor Wembanyamawill be back and healthy to start the season after being shut down last February because of a blood clot in his right shoulder. AndZion Williamsonwill be back after playing in only 30 games last season for theNew Orleans Pelicansbecause of various injuries. But you’ll have to wait to see a few notable superstars debut this season.Los Angeles Lakersfront manLeBron Jamesis expected to sit out three to four weeks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Plus,Kyrie Irvingappears to be working his way back from his season-ending ACL tear last March. Before we get caught up in the whirlwind of the regular season, our NBA insiders provide updates on the injury status of key players and break down who is primed to make a notable return during opening week and who to keep an eye on as the regular season progresses. There was skinny Jokic. Then skinny Doncic dazzled on the cover of Men’s Health. Now it’s skinny Zion who has many buzzing about the Pelicans this season, as he appears to be in his best shape since looking like a once-in-a-generation prospect at Duke. Williamson credits Daniel Bove, the Pelicans’ director of performance and sports science, for helping him transform his body through boxing and working out on a football field while rehabbing from a hamstring injury that plagued him all last season. In six seasons in the league, Williamson has played 60 or more games only twice and was shut down last season in March afterdealing with a bone bruise, having played only 30 games. “I really felt a shift in my body to where I would look at [Bove] and say, ‘Dude, it feels good to feel good.’ I haven’t felt like this since college, high school, where I can walk into a gym, I feel good.”– Ohm Youngmisuk Davis was fully cleared weeks before training camp, having recovered from offseason surgery to repair adetached retina in his right eye. He will spend the preseason getting used to the protective glasses he’ll have to wear the rest of his career, per doctor’s orders, as well as shedding the 15 extra pounds he carried into training camp. The 6-foot-10 Davis, now listed at 268 pounds, downplayed any worries about his weight, saying it’s normal for him to report to camp a little heavy. “I never want to come in at my playing weight, because then I lose weight during the season and then I’m too small,” Davis said. “I lose about 10 to 12 pounds very quickly. … So I’m never concerned about that. I feel great. I’m moving great. I feel good.”– Tim MacMahon Porzingis has a new home in Atlanta and the center, after dealing with a mysterious ailment that allowed him to play over 20 minutes in only one of his final six games with theBoston Celtics, says he’s feeling good again.