Based on the initial timelines, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall should be readying for his return to the lineup this week. That’s not the case for the All-Star, though, as his recovery time from inflammation and discomfort in his left knee is taking longer than expected.
Washington is wrapping up a West coast road trip with a matinee against the LA Clippers on Saturday (3:30 ET, NBA League Pass). They visit the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday (7:30 ET, NBA League Pass) and have a lengthy home stand leading up to Christmas Day. When Wall will suit up remains unknown, writes Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, but promising signs are there for a return:
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Wall, who received platelet-rich plasma and viscosupplementation injections in his left knee on Nov. 25, could make his return to the lineup by the middle of next week. The team originally shared that Wall would miss “approximately two weeks,” yet Wall has not gone through a practice or a shootaround with teammates. Although Wall is improving, he still needs more time to recover, the source said.
The end of the team’s original timeline would be Saturday when the Wizards play the Los Angeles Clippers. The Wizards will then move on to New York for the final stop on the trip to face the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
On Thursday, before the Wizards played the Phoenix Suns, Wall got on the court for two individual sessions. After teammates went through a morning shoot-around, Wall took shots around the arc at full speed with assistant coach Tony Brown and Steven Smith, the director of sports science, and Jesse Phillips, the director of player performance and rehabilitation, looking on among other medical staffers.
Coach Scott Brooks said Wall could participate in a practice or shootaround “in the near future,” but the slight work on Thursday represented the next step in his recovery.
“Just getting his workout with the coaches. There some conditioning and basketball work. Just the natural progression that we have him going,” Brooks said. “He’s moving in that direction. Every day he goes and we evaluate how he feels the next day. So far, he’s checked off all the boxes. We just have to keep pushing it along.”
