Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi underwent knee surgery Friday, and he is expected to miss four to six weeks.
According to Wizards Today, Mahinmi partially tore the medial meniscus in his left knee during Thursday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Washington signed the Frenchman to a four-year, $64 million free-agent contract in July after Mahinmi enjoyed the best season of his eight-year NBA career in 2015-16 with the Indiana Pacers. He averaged personal bests of 9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in a career-high 71 starts.
The 29-year-old veteran had been little more than a rotational big in previous stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks.
Mahinmi has dealt with a number of bumps and bruises during his career. In training camp in September, he had soreness following an incident in practice, per Candace Buckner of the Washington Post (h/t RotoWire).
Washington signed Mahinmi to replace the departed Nene and to share time at center with veteran Marcin Gortat.
Now that Mahinmi is out for the next several weeks, Gortat figures to earn the lion’s share of the minutes in the post with Jason Smith providing some depth.
The Wizards ranked 21st in the NBA last season in points allowed at 104.6 per game, and without Mahinmi in the middle, Washington may have to beat teams in high-scoring contests early in the season.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
