The NBA’s injury hits just keep on coming.
Over the past five days alone, the New Orleans Pelicans have lost DeMarcus Cousins for the year; the Oklahoma City Thunder have lost Andre Roberson for the season; the Memphis Grizzlies announced Mike Conley wouldn’t play again in 2017-18; the Charlotte Hornets may have lost Marvin Williams to an ankle issue; and the Denver Nuggets have Mason Plumlee dealing with a calf injury.
And now, apparently, it’s John Wall’s turn.
According to The Washington Post‘s Candace Buckner, the point guard will be undergoing a knee procedure that keeps him out of the Washington Wizards’ rotation for the next six to eight weeks:
DEVELOPING: John Wall will undergo a knee procedure tomorrow (described as a clean up). He will miss six weeks & will not play in upcoming All-Star weekend, The Washington Post has learned.
Story coming soon.— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) January 30, 2018
ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the news:
Washington Wizards guard John Wall could miss two months after a knee scope set for Wednesday, league source tells ESPN. @CandaceDBuckner first reported procedure.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 30, 2018
This comes as a huge blow to the Wizards for obvious reasons. But it’s an even bigger one knowing Wall has already missed time this year with left knee issues. Another one cropping up is hardly a good sign, no matter how much the team tries to downplay it.
Plus, now the Wizards have to figure out how to survive without him, a tall order they may not be fit to service. They score like an above-average offense whenever Bradley Beals goes it alone, according to NBA.com, but a long stretch like this one is different. And it doesn’t help that the Wizards’ defense has been struggling mightily, particularly since the turn of the calendar.
To make matters even worse, sixteen of the team’s next 20 games come against playoff squads, as ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe pointed out. Dropping from Wall to some combination of Tim Frazier and Jodie Meeks and Tomas Satoransky could prove crippling during that stretch—especially when the Wizards, at this writing, are two games away from falling into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, and a suddenly not-so-significant 4.5 games away from plunging into lottery territory.
