Having undergone surgery on Wednesday for meniscus tear in left knee, Pacers wing Ben Sheppard He is expected to be out for months, not weeks, the head coach said Rick Carlisle told reporters, including Circle City Spin’s Tony East (Link to Twitter).
Like us more details this weekThere are two types of surgery on the meniscus – meniscectomy, which involves removing the meniscus, or full repair of the tear. A meniscectomy requires a much shorter recovery period, so based on Carlisle’s previous comments about Sheppard missing “weeks,” it seemed like that was the type of procedure he was undergoing. However, as East’s baton, Sheppard required a full meniscus repair and faces a long-term absence.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for the 25-year-old, who is in the final year of his rookie contract and eligible for restricted free agency in 2027. Assuming he finishes the season with the Pacers, the team will have to decide whether to make an $8 million qualifying offer to Sheppard next summer. Now that he’s expected to miss a significant portion of the season, that looks a lot less certain.
We’ve got more injury news from the NBA:
- After that Lakers turned off a couple of starters – Luka Doncic (back tightness) and Ziair Williams (left foot soreness) – for the second game on Wednesday, head coach Jay Jay Reddick suggested the team was just being “cautious,” according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Link to Twitter). The Lakers, who are in the midst of a five-game, seven-day stretch, hope to have both players back for Friday’s game at Golden State, McMenamin adds (via Twitter).
- Z Bykov is set to embark on a three-game road trip that begins Friday at Boston, Center Nick Claxton (left hamstring strain) will probably go with the team, the head coach Tiago Splitter Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic said Thursday (Link to Twitter). That doesn’t necessarily guarantee Claxton will play on the trip, but he’s been working out over the past week and is nearing his season debut, Lorenzi noted.
- Clippers security guard Max Strus (rupture of the plantar fascia on the right), forward Brandon Ingram (right heel surgery), and a big man Yannick Conan Niederhauser (right foot surgery) is making progress in his recovery but will remain in Los Angeles to rehabilitate instead of joining the team for its trip to Minnesota on Friday and Golden State on Sunday. tweets sideline reporter Ohm Youngmisuk. However, go ahead Rui Hachimuraheld Wednesday because of left quad soreness, will be on the trip, suggesting he could return for one or both games.
