NBA Rumors: Injury Concerns Heading into Training Camp and Free Agency

With the start of every new season there's a fresh start for players who were bothered by injuries the year before. Some of those players are free agents and some of those players are under contract. Here are five players who finished last year injured but are ready to come back this year. 

Caron Butler injured his knee last year in January and then underwent surgery. He has not played since then, but the Mavericks dedicated their postseason run to him. That's not the best time to be gong into free agency, but Butler worked out for the Bulls today.  

There will be some caution with signing Butler as players who undergo knee surgery are often a step slower when they come back. Butler was one of the better, more versatile wings before he went down with both the ability to score from deep or drive through traffic. He'll make some fans nervously happy when he signs. 

David West tore his ACL on March 25 last year. He has quietly built a reputation as one of the best power forwards in the league over the last few years. Over the last four years he has averaged over 7.8 boards and 19.6 points. His 23 WS are the seventh most among all power forwards. It's easy to see why a lot of teams would love to add that kind of production.

While power forwards traditionally come back better from that kind of injury, there are always concerns. West will land somewhere, but he'll have fans holding their breath the first time he comes down funny. 

Chauncey Billups was yet another player who suffered a knee injury, although his happened during the Knicks' brief playoff run. It remains to be seen how significantly it will factor into his season and the Knicks' season. If he's piloting the team they'll need him back healthy, but if he is involved in a Chris Paul trade, it's possible it won't matter much. 

MIke Miller has had a miserable experience with Miami. He just can't seem to get healthy. Now Udonis Haslem is reporting that he had offseason hernia surgery. Miller was already rumored to be an amnesty candidate and the fact that it's going to take eight weeks to recover might ensure it. 

What does that mean? It could mean a team holding off on one of their exceptions out for him. Or it might mean he could just wait and pick his favorite destination and play for the minimum. One thing it certainly means is he won't be in an uniform on Christmas day. 

Amar'e Stoudemire ended last season with a "debilitating back injury", but according to reports from the New York Post, Isaiah Thomas says, "He looks great! He is in awesome shape. He’s been working very hard. You hear these stories about how (former NFL receiver) Jerry Rice used to work out. You can say the same about Amar’e."

Knicks fans don't look like they need to worry but it's something to keep an eye on. These are the types of things that can flare up. The Knicks might need to measure how they use him, particularly with the dense schedule in this lockout-shortened season.