Plenty of teams are depleted going into this week's start of the NBA Cup — the new name for what was called the In-Season Tournament a year ago when it debuted. Among Tuesday's opening tournament games on the colorful courts: Dallas at Golden State, in Klay Thompson's return to the Bay for the first time in anything other than a Warriors uniform.

The hope is that the sudden rise in injuries is just an early-season blip, but there’s reason to believe the dark cloud hovering over the league is here to stay.