After visiting a specialist to address his lingering neck and back soreness, Wizards forward Markieff Morris has been diagnosed with transient cervical neuropraxia, the team announced today in a press release. According to the Wizards, Morris will be limited to non-contact basketball activities for the next six weeks. He’s expected to be cleared to resume full basketball activities at that point.
Morris initially suffered his injury when he took a blow to the chin on December 16 vs. the Lakers, then re-aggravated it during a December 26 game in Detroit.
Although he has been coming off the bench since mid-November, Morris remains a key part of Washington’s rotation, averaging 11.5 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 34 games (26.0 MPG) so far this season. Losing him for an extended stretch will further hamstring the Wizards, who will already be without John Wall for the season and have had Dwight Howard in their lineup for just nine games since signing him over the summer.
Even at 15-23, the Wizards are just three games back of the eighth-seeded Pistons for a playoff spot in a weak Eastern Conference. If they’re still in the hunt when Morris returns, he’ll look to help the club make a postseason push down the stretch as he nears unrestricted free agency.
In Morris’ absence, Jeff Green figures to get the brunt of the team’s power forward minutes. Sam Dekker should also see regular action at the four, while Thomas Bryant and Ian Mahinmi man the five.
Adding another setback to this awful Wizards season. Definitely time to tank and rebuild– like, for real now. Injuries and underperformance have been killer, but we have the tradeable assets to get some (probably exciting, for a change) young players/picks.
If the rebuild is left to Grunfeld, then it will be more of the same mediocrity that his teams have achieved in the past. I happen to agree with you that the Wizards need to overhaul the roster but I wouldn’t go there with Ernie making the decisions.