Injured Wizards point guard John Wall is off his crutches and walking without a noticeable limp. However, the star point guard, who was pulled from the All-Star Game due to knee surgery, is reluctant to put a timetable on his return, Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes.
“I really don’t know because I’m just doing everything the doctors are telling me,” Wall said. “I haven’t really tried to get back on the court yet so, just doing the little things. And I haven’t started running yet. So whenever I get to that point I can kind of start grasping stuff and understanding what level I’m at but right now it’s between six to eight weeks. It might be longer but I don’t know. I haven’t got to that point.”
Wall also addressed his recent public spat with teammate Marcin Gortat. A tweet from Gortat after a Wizards game referred to their performance as a great “team” win. Wall took his own shot at Gortat later on but he said both men have spoken and any personal issues will not be brought to the court.
There are more notes from the Southeast Division below:
- In his latest installment of Ask Ira, Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel addressed the possibility of Justise Winslow losing playing time once Kelly Olynyk and Rodney McGruder return from injury. While Winslow is a talented player, his role on the Heat will likely diminish now that Dwyane Wade has returned and other players are healthy, Winderman writes.
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald spoke to a veteran NBA scout who said that the Heat must blow up their roster this offseason. “Let’s put it this way,” the scout said. “Goran Dragic is their best player, but if you had a really good team that would contend for a championship, you would want him to be your fourth-best player, maybe [third if you had two superstars]. Jackson goes up and down the roster, with the veteran scout assessing each player’s value for next season.
Pat keeps thinking he can build with all these mid-tier players and it’s not going to work. My god Winslow is a bust.
Would the Heat like to get rid of Dion Waiters & Tyler Johnsons contracts of 30+m through 2020? What would they attach to do that? Their first round pick or even Adebayo?
The problem with Winslow is that he’s 6’4″. He’s basically a young PJ Tucker, and for me, that’s his ceiling.
Clearly none of these people have seen Winslow play. He’s just getting his rhythm after missing most of last year with the shoulder surgery, and then being injured twice this year after getting back into it. His shooting is improved considerably. His ball handling has i.prpved a lot. I think next year is going to be very interesting for him, but it depends on his role. Heat have had to use some weird rotations b/c of injuries, and there is a lot of redundancy between Winslow and James Johnson…For now, I would think his minutes will decrease for a bit, but that’s just a product of everything else going on
The rotations since Wade returned haven t been what I would have thought Spo would go to. Until McGruder and Olynyk come back, it should probably be Dragic, Wade, Richardson, Babbit, and Whiteside, with Tyler and JJ, Ellington, and Bam, and a little Winslow off the bench…Once Mcgruder comes back, it should be Dragic, Richardson, McGruder, James Johnson, and Whiteside, with Wade, Tyler Johnson, Ellington, Winslow, Olynyk, and Bam off the bench