While injury news may not be part of our main scope at Hoops Rumors, we have a handful of updates to share this evening:
- Kevin Love will travel to New York on Wednesday in order to determine whether or not he'll need surgery on his broken right hand, according to Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
- Derrick Rose should be cleared for full-contact practice within the next two weeks, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Subscribers only). Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times provided another look at the superstar's return to practice today, noting that Rose looked good in "predictable contact" drills.
- Kevin Ding of the OC Register (via Twitter) notes that Dwight Howard's injury is actually a separated shoulder (not a torn labrum) and that he hopes to return after a week of recovery. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets that Dwight's injury will not require surgery.
- Mike Trudell of Lakers.com tweeted that after meeting with a neurologist today, Pau Gasol has not been cleared to return to action after suffering a concussion during Sunday night's loss to the Nuggets. The Lakers big man will be re-evaluated on Thursday.
- Anderson Varejao does not appear close to returning to action, writes Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer. The Cavaliers center has missed 10 games and counting since injuring his knee near mid-December.
- While there is no specific date for his return, Iman Shumpert made significant progress by being able to participate in 3-on-3 drills and absorbing some contact during Knicks practice today, notes Ian Begley of ESPN New York.
- The Trail Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge learned today that the bothersome pain in his right wrist is nothing more than a sprain, says Joe Freeman of the Oregonian. The 6'11 forward/center originally hurt his wrist in November and has dealt with intermittent pain since then.
- Grant Hill went through full practice today and could be close to making his season debut for the Clippers tomorrow night if all goes well during shootaround, says Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles. Bone bruises in his right knee have kept Hill from appearing in a regular season game thus far.
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