D’Angelo Russell‘s original diagnosis of a left knee contusion last Saturday yielded a nightmare outcome for the Nets as their starting point guard underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday, the team announced. No timetable for Russell’s return was given, so Brooklyn will be without its best, youngest, and most valuable player for an extended period.
Russell, 21, was in the midst of his best season to date, averaging a career-best 20.9 PPG, 5.7 APG, and 4.7 RPG in 12 games for Brooklyn. The organization acquired Russell in an offseason trade that saw longtime Net Brook Lopez shipped to the Lakers. While Russell was expected to miss a few games, now he will likely sit out several months due to surgery but general manager Sean Marks did not sound too worried about the procedure.
“This was a direct correlation to the incident that happened in Utah,” Marks said (via ESPN). “I think with any 21-year-old that’s played a lot of basketball you’re going to have a little bit of wear and tear. The good thing is he’s young enough and he’s certainly going to bounce back from something like this. We’re not too concerned in that regard.”
The Nets were pegged for another losing season — despite upgrading with young talent — and thus far, the team sports a 6-9 record. Brooklyn’s prime backup to Russell, veteran Jeremy Lin, suffered his own season-ending knee injury so he will not be able to help. Spencer Dinwiddie will be the Nets’ starter in Russell’s absence, giving the organization an extended look at 24-year-old point guard. Dinwiddie promptly made Nets history in the team’s win over the Jazz on Friday, becoming the first Net to score 25+ points, make 6 three-pointers, dish out 8 assists, and no commit a turnover (via Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily).
At this point, the Nets will be without their best player for several months, but he is expected to return before season’s end. While the Nets are not expected to compete for the playoffs, they are just two games out of a playoff spot through 17 games.
What do you think? Should the Nets be concerned about Russell’s health long-term since he does have a history of knee ailments? Is rushing Russell back to make a run something Brooklyn needs to consider or should they bring him along slowly?Sound off below!
They shouldn’t rush him at all. They are still in the middle of a likely VERY long rebuild. No reason to rush him they aren’t making the playoffs anytime soon.
This isn’t nearly as bad an injury as a knee injury would be to a type of player like Zach Lavine or Aaron Gordon who rely primarily on their athleticism but they still shouldn’t rush him at all…
That Cavs draft pick just gained a lot of value. The Nets were decent with Russell, the will probably regress without him. Cavs, go get Boogie!!
Why he’s a unrestricted FA next summer! Keep the pick! HaHa
They won’t lose much talent with Dinwiddie starting, though depth suffers. I’m not sure he’s better than Russell but it’s darn close despite the extra-wide disparity in salaries. Russell should be taking some mental notes about PG efficiency and getting better while he’s down.
Funny, the Nets were so happy about getting an elite talent despite poor drafting positions…