Magic swingman Terrence Ross has been diagnosed with a sprained right MCL and a non-displaced fracture of his right tibial plateau, the team announced today in a press release. The Magic didn’t provide a specific timetable for Ross’ recovery, but indicated he’ll be out indefinitely and will miss “a significant amount of time.”
Ross, acquired by the Magic last February in the trade that sent Serge Ibaka to Toronto, has been Orlando’s starting shooting guard for most of this season. However, his play had been up and down — Ross’ 9.0 PPG, .407 FG%, and .329 3PT% are all below his career averages.
Although the Magic’s announcement said that Ross’ return date will depend on how his injury heals and how he responds to treatment, it’s probably safe to assume we won’t see him until sometime in 2018. A sprained MCL on its own generally takes several weeks to heal, and Ross also has to deal with a tibial plateau fracture — that injury affects the upper part of the shin bone, near the knee joint.
Jonathon Simmons had moved into Orlando’s starting lineup this week and figures to continue to start at the two going forward. Evan Fournier, Arron Afflalo, and Mario Hezonja also may see more minutes while Ross remains out of action.
Opportunity to upgrade at the two with Simmons, Augustin, and Biyombo to the Lakers for Clarkson and Deng?
Agustin is more valuable to ORL than he is to the Lakers but is needed to make the money work through 2019-2020 and potentially easier for the Lakers to trade again or stretch than either Clarkson or Deng.