Brooklyn Nets Roster, Injury News 2017: D'Angelo Russell Undergoes Arthroscopic Knee Surgery, Out Indefinitely
D'Angelo Russell's knee injury seems to be more serious than previously anticipated.
The Brooklyn Nets have confirmed that Russell had arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee last Friday and he's going to be out indefinitely.
The third-year guard injured his knee in the final minutes of the Nets' 114–106 loss to the Utah Jazz earlier this month. He was originally diagnosed with a left knee contusion.
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"We felt that after the initial injury in Utah, it was best to wait a week, continue to evaluate, continue to evaluate with treatment, see how he responded. Obviously now we've decided to go in this direction. This is the direction that's best for D'Angelo for this coming season and also long term for his career," Nets general manager Sean Marks said, via NBA.com.
"He's going into this as another challenge. He knows he'll bounce back from this and we have no doubts in our mind that he'll be better and stronger than he was before," he added.
Marks also confirmed that Russell will return at some point this season. That's great news because the Nets already had to play without guard Jeremy Lin for the rest of the 2017–18 season after he sustained a patellar tendon rupture in their season-opening loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Russell has played in 12 games so far this season and he's averaging 20.9 points, 5.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds and one steal in just under 28 minutes per game. He's also shooting 46.3 percent from the field, 30 percent from beyond the arc and 68.3 percent from the free throw line.
Fourth-year pro Spencer Dinwiddie has been getting the start at point guard in Russell's absence, and he has been playing really well. Dinwiddie is currently averaging 11 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists in just under 24 minutes a game.
