Washington Wizards: Ian Mahinmi's MRI Comes Back Clean, But Will Still Miss Time
Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi has missed most of the season with a left knee injury and will continue to be sidelined with discomfort.
The Washington Wizards signed former Indiana Pacers center Ian Mahinmi to a $64 million deal this past summer.
After the team’s defense plummeted, Washington looked to acquire a free agent that could become an anchor on that end of the floor. Mahinmi was a top-10 defender last year and was coming off the best season of his career with the Pacers.
Even though Marcin Gortat was penciled in as the team’s starting center, Mahinmi was supposed to compete for the position, given his defensive prowess.
So far this season, Mahinmi has only played in one game. Washington is not an elite defensive team and the second unit is the worst in the league.
The signing has not panned out for Ernie Grunfeld, to say the least. The Wizards are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and the free agents that were signed haven’t helped.
Mahinmi underwent surgery in his left knee prior to the beginning of the season and was scheduled to only miss one month of action.
After returning against the San Antonio Spurs in November, Mahinmi experienced more discomfort in his knee, forcing him to become sidelined once again.
On Friday, Mahinmi had an MRI done on his knee, which came back clean, according to head coach Scott Brooks.
“Got an MRI,” coach Scott Brooks said after practice. “Came back clean. Still experiencing soreness. He’ll rest up for a week or so and in the meantime continue treatments and rehab and see how he feels until then. The good news is he showed no structural damage or anything like that.”
Currently, Washington is the seventh worst rebounding team in the NBA, so the lack of an inside presence, especially off the bench, has hurt the team.
Brooks has been relying on Jason Smith and Andrew Nicholson on the second unit – neither of whom have lived up to expectations.
Smith is having the worst season of his career and Nicholson has failed to consistently hit shots from the perimeter, which is one of the primary reasons why the Wizards were interested in signing him in the first place.
Washington’s front office attempted to add depth to the roster after failing to acquire a top free agent, but their plans have fallen flat thus far. The new additions – virtually all of the players signed – have been disappointing.
Mahinmi will miss at least another week as he recovers from soreness. At this point, his progress will be determined by how his knee reacts to treatment and live drills.
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