One month into the NBA season, some common concerns are emerging across the league, and the biggest one might be the injury bug (or bugs).

Health is always a factor in an 82-game season, but that seems to be heightened even more this year. Superstars such as Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo are sidelined for multiple weeks. LeBron James — to this point — has only played in one game. And coaches are speaking up, too.

The Athletic NBA staff was asked to highlight one early concern for each team thus far, and injuries came up a lot. But that’s not the only thing teams need to worry about.

Atlanta Hawks

Rebounding: Things have generally gone well in Atlanta, with the team recently ripping off five straight wins without Trae Young. But the Hawks need to get more boards. They’re 24th in overall rebound rate and rank in the bottom seven at both ends. Centers Onyeka Okongwu and Kristaps Porziņģis have both been subpar for their position, while 6-foot-8 Zaccharie Risacher’s inability to rebound remains a mystery. — John Hollinger

Boston Celtics

Frontcourt depth: Neemias Queta has answered some of Boston’s frontcourt questions, but the minutes without him have been problematic at times. Despite Luka Garza’s recent production as a scorer and offensive rebounder, holes pop up in the team’s defensive profile when he’s on the court. Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher don’t have the same weaknesses as Garza but hold back the Celtics in different areas. Joe Mazzulla has usually used Garza as the backup center, but he’s choosing between several flawed options behind Queta. — Jay King

Brooklyn Nets

The number of wins: The Nets only have two of them so far. It’s actually a double-edged sword. They are inarguably a very bad team, one of the worst in the league. That might be what you call the bright side. They are one of four teams with two or fewer wins right now. The Nets are surely hoping for a very high draft pick and avoiding another mid-lottery choice. — Mike Vorkunov

Charlotte Hornets

Perimeter defense: The good news is this team allows the sixth-lowest 3-point volume in the NBA. The bad news is that it allows the highest 3-point percentage, with opponents connecting on 41.2 percent from deep. And the Hornets are 27th in effective field goal percentage against them. They have very little organization and commitment to covering the perimeter, and their offense isn’t good enough to overcome that. — Zach Harper

Chicago Bulls

Rim protection: Still down Zach Collins, the Bulls haven’t had oft-intimidating personnel guarding the rim. Chicago’s perimeter defenders haven’t exactly made life easier for the Bulls’ backline, either. It culminates in free paint touches and hell for Nikola Vučević, who certainly didn’t sign up for this. Not to mention, Chicago doesn’t seem to be a Collins away from patching the issue. — Joel Lorenzi

Cleveland Cavaliers

Evan Mobley’s limitations: This is an existential concern. There is nothing — nothing — wrong with Mobley averaging a career high in points and shots, holding steady with his blocks and hoisting more 3s than ever. What we saw in the first month, though, is that when his usage went up, the Cavs’ offense grew clunky, his turnovers skyrocketed, and it otherwise became clear that perhaps he does not have that fifth gear as an offensive player. It is possible we saw that Mobley should not be an initiator of the offense, needs others to help get him the ball in the best spots, etc. Why does this matter? The Cavs were built on the idea that, when Mobley is their best player, they will have the best chance to win a championship. He is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and a competent offensive talent but may not be well-rounded enough to be the alpha they envisioned. If I’m wrong, the Cavs are golden. If I’m right, perhaps the roster needs reworking this summer. — Joe Vardon

Dallas Mavericks

Everything besides Cooper Flagg: The good news is Flagg is awesome. The bad news is everything else. The Mavericks were forced to fire GM Nico Harrison 11 games into the season, a move that franchise great Dirk Nowitzki said should have happened last summer. The Mavericks can’t score, and Anthony Davis remains out with a left calf strain. Before the Mavericks can consider a Davis trade, they need him to get back on the floor so he can rebuild his value. Dallas doesn’t control any of its own first-round picks outright from 2027 to 2030. It at least has full control over its 2026 first-rounder. — Christian Clark

Denver Nuggets

The 3-point line: It’s nitpicking, but the Nuggets allow the ninth-highest volume of 3-point shots in the NBA. You may see they’re first in 3-point percentage against and think there is no concern here. Maybe! But teams are also shooting 33.1 percent on open 3s and 31.4 percent on wide-open attempts. Some of that is funneling properly to bad shooters, but it’s also a lot of shot-defense luck. For a team that doesn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers on its own side, that could end up hurting Denver at some point. — Zach Harper

Detroit Pistons

Injury luck: There really hasn’t been much to be concerned about with the Pistons, but if I had to pinpoint one thing, it would be their inability to stay healthy. They’ve been injury-plagued to begin the season with players in and out of the lineup, and Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser have yet to make their regular-season debuts. But thus far, that “concern” has only strengthened them. Detroit is rolling right now. — Hunter Patterson

Golden State Warriors

Inconsistency: The Warriors still have Stephen Curry playing at an incredibly high level, which will always give them a chance to win every night, but their biggest question early is trying to figure out what kind of effort they’ll give each night on the floor. If a talented team is playing with a healthy roster, the Warriors will show up to play at a full interest level. If it’s a bad team or a team playing without its top players, all bets are off. — Nick Friedell

Houston Rockets

Turnovers: Despite having one of the top offenses in the NBA, Houston’s biggest weakness has been protecting the ball, which highlights the lack of a healthy, traditional point guard on the roster. The Rockets have done fairly well running most of their half-court offense through Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengün, but there are still times when things get a little sloppy when the game slows down. They are talented enough to make up for those mistakes in other ways against teams like Orlando or Dallas. But Houston has to go through Denver and/or Oklahoma City to reach its ultimate goal. It’ll be difficult to take down those teams if you can’t execute during high-intensity moments. — William Guillory

Alperen Sengün and Kevin Durant celebrate after a play against the Magic. (Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)

Indiana Pacers

Health: The best ability is availability, and Indiana is struggling in that area. After Tyrese Haliburton was injured in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Pacers had some questions about being able to replace him. Instead of just dealing with that and who will play center, the Pacers are dealing with even more absences. Since the preseason, Indiana has had at least 12 mid-game injuries. Indiana fans may want to get in touch with an Etsy witch soon to reverse this curse. — Shakeia Taylor

LA Clippers

The defense fails often: The Clippers had the third-best defense in the NBA last season, and it was a unit that allowed them to compete and win games both with Kawhi Leonard out and once he took time to return to star form. This season, the Clippers’ offense is off to another rocky start because of injuries and time wasted trying to implement an injured Bradley Beal before his season-ending injury. But unlike last season, the defense has been even worse than the offense, and the offense is only better because James Harden hasn’t collapsed yet. LA frequently leaves good shooters open for great looks, gets torched in transition and loses the possession battle. — Law Murray

Los Angeles Lakers

3-point shooting: Entering Thursday night, the Lakers are near the bottom of the league in 3-point percentage (23rd), makes (28th) and attempts (26th). LeBron James’ catch-and-shoot powers should help, but the Lakers need to get better from deep if they want to level up. — Dan Woike

Memphis Grizzlies

Everything: Ja Morant doesn’t care, Jaren Jackson Jr. can’t score, none of the centers or point guards can stay healthy, Jaylen Wells has regressed, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope looks diminished, and the Grizzlies are shooting 32.8 percent from 3. Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln? To hammer one common theme, however: Half-court offense remains a chore for this group, and if Jackson continues struggling to score this much in coach Tuomas Iisalo’s system, then it’s fair to ask if some tweaks are needed. — John Hollinger

Miami Heat

Rebounding: Entering Thursday, the Heat rank 26th in overall rebound rate. Their rebounding issue has been the regression on the defensive glass when Bam Adebayo sits. During his 272 minutes, the Heat are grabbing 71.8 percent of available defensive rebounds, which would rank fourth among all teams this season. When Adebayo sits? That figure falls to 62.9 percent. Such sloth glass-eating would leave them last in the league. — James Jackson

Milwaukee Bucks

Defense: Injuries would be a fair response here, as three of their top eight rotation players, including two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, are sidelined, but the whole league deals with injuries. A month into this season, the Bucks haven’t been good enough defensively. They don’t have the personnel to be an elite defense with their lack of size on the wing, but they need to be better moving forward. Whether that means grabbing a higher percentage of defensive rebounds or forcing more turnovers, the Bucks need to swing a few possessions each game. — Eric Nehm

Minnesota Timberwolves

They haven’t beaten a really good team yet: The Wolves are 10-0 against teams with a record below .500 and 0-5 against teams with a record above .500. There is some noise in that stat. Two of those losses came to the Lakers and Nuggets without Anthony Edwards. But for a team that believes it is capable of coming out of the West, it has to start playing better against the really good teams. To their credit, they have handled their business against the bad teams, which had been a problem for them in previous seasons. — Jon Krawczynski

New Orleans Pelicans

Season is already over: Zion Williamson is dealing with another injury. Willie Green has been fired. The attendance at recent home games has been shockingly low. After the Pelicans’ awful start, pessimism around the franchise is at an all-time low, and there’s still so much season left. Without a first-round pick to look forward to in the summer, it feels like the team and the fan base are already done with this season, and Thanksgiving isn’t here yet. — William Guillory

New York Knicks

3-point defense: The Knicks’ defense is designed to keep teams out of the paint, and it’s been working. However, opponents are getting up a high frequency of 3s and hitting those shots at a comfortable clip. They are shooting 36.4 percent from 3 against the Knicks, which is the third-worst mark in the NBA. Their shifting defense is designed to clog driving lanes, but it leaves them susceptible to kick-out 3s if decisions are made quickly. New York has to improve its on-ball defense to avoid less gap help and scramble situations. — James L. Edwards III

Oklahoma City Thunder

Eternal damnation: There is no other explanation. The Thunder sold their souls to the devil. They will eventually suffer the consequences. They haven’t had All-NBA wing Jalen Williams all season. Chet Holmgren has missed time, as have Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe. And yet, this team sits atop the Western Conference with only one loss. Ajay Mitchell has gone from two-way contract to pesky sixth man. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a machine. They win no matter which players don the jerseys. The afterlife won’t be kind. — Fred Katz

Jalen Williams, left, has yet to play for OKC this season. (Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images)

Orlando Magic

Defense has slipped: The Magic’s defense has been elite for much of Jamahl Mosley’s tenure — until now, that is. Orlando opened Thursday ranked 14th in defensive rating, according to NBA Stats, allowing 112.7 points per 100 possessions. Is that a product of a small sample size? A product of temporarily growing pains with getting used to Desmond Bane instead of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Gary Harris? Or maybe the product of Jalen Suggs’ slow ramp-up off last season’s knee surgery? One thing is clear: Even with a slightly improved offense, the Magic won’t finish the regular season in the East’s top four if its defense doesn’t regain the form it showed in 2023-24 and last season. — Josh Robbins

Philadelphia 76ers

Tyrese Maxey’s minutes: Simply put, they are too much. He leads the league in minutes, playing 40.3 per night — and that was before he logged 47 in Thursday’s overtime win against Milwaukee in which he dropped a career-high 54. He averages 32 minutes a night for his career and was at 37 minutes per night last season. The Sixers need this to win, because Joel Embiid and Paul George are constantly in and out of the lineup. That’s part of the problem. But one has to wonder if this is sustainable over 82 games. — Tony Jones

Phoenix Suns

Will health hold up to contend?: It’s hard to be negative about the Suns. They compete, they defend, they play together. It’s a completely different vibe from last season’s high-priced outfit. At the same time, they’ve had a lot of health issues. Jalen Green, expected to shoulder some of the scoring load, has played in one full game because of a hamstring issue. Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen have missed time. Mark Williams has stayed healthy, but given his history, you have to wonder how long that will last. A Devin Booker injury that sidelines him for multiple weeks would be devastating. So far, coach Jordan Ott has navigated this well. The Suns are better than expected. They might need good fortune to keep it going. — Doug Haller

Portland Trail Blazers

Point guard depth: This was a concern entering the season after Scoot Henderson suffered a hamstring tear, and one month into the season, that concern has intensified. The Blazers figured they could make due with a stable of guards, but Blake Wesley broke his foot, Matisse Thybulle needed thumb surgery, and Jrue Holiday has missed Portland’s last three games because of a balky right calf. Henderson’s timeline to return is unclear as he enters his eighth week of being sidelined, and the team hopes the right calf of the 35-year-old Holiday is just soreness. In the meantime, a season that is otherwise encouraging and entertaining will hope the likes of Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija and Caleb Love can steady the wheel. — Jason Quick

Sacramento Kings

Where do we start?: This roster needs to be blown up. Plain and simple. These Kings, who were not constructed by current GM Scott Perry, are just god-awful. And there’s zero evidence that it’s going to change anytime soon. Combine that with the locker room being full of proud vets — dudes who have accomplished a lot in this league — and it’s safe to say the frustration level is quite high in Sacramento. — Sam Amick

San Antonio Spurs

Injuries: The Spurs are facing (almost) their biggest fear: a life without Victor Wembanyama for a few weeks. The injury bug hit one of the league’s deepest teams before training camp even started, and it hasn’t relented. They are lucky Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper will only miss a few weeks, but the fears that injuries could be a factor with their franchise players continue to be a reality. — Jared Weiss

Toronto Raptors

Jakob Poeltl’s health: Poeltl has missed only four regular-season games with a back injury, but even when he’s played, he has looked uncomfortable. Poeltl is not a star, but the Raptors don’t have another true center on the roster — Sandro Mamukelashvili is more of a forward defensively. With Scottie Barnes and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, the Raptors can play small. However, they have struggled on the defensive glass. If Poeltl is unavailable or just hobbled, that will certainly continue. — Eric Koreen

Utah Jazz

Growth for the young guys: It’s too early to know anything about Ace Bailey, but some of the other young guys aren’t starting off the way you’d want. Taylor Hendricks horrifically missed so much last season, and he doesn’t appear able to execute yet. Cody Williams still looks as lost as he did last season. Keyonte George looks good, but his shooting is still rough. And Walker Kessler is out for the year. — Zach Harper

Washington Wizards

Are the youngsters learning how to win?: Full disclosure: I think it’s imperative that the Wizards finish at the bottom of the league standings, not just to retain their protected 2026 first-round draft pick but also to raise the floor of where they would draft if they don’t win a top-four pick in the lottery. Having said that, it’s difficult to say the young players are learning how to win when the defense remains one of the league’s worst (29th in defensive rating entering Thursday) and when the team is getting blown out regularly. Alex Sarr has significantly improved. Kyshawn George has improved, too. But individual improvement and learning how to win aren’t necessarily the same. I’m suggesting that, in a perfect world, the Wizards would have it both ways: Continue to lose but be competitive enough to learn how to win. That may be an impossible task. At the very least, that’s an extraordinarily difficult needle to thread. — Josh Robbins