Washington Wizards' John Wall to undergo season-ending surgery
Prior to the beginning of this season, Washington Wizards' All-Star point guard was all confident in saying that they are among the East's elite rosters. But the recent struggles that Wall and the Wizards have had tell a different story. They stand at 11th spot in the conference with a disappointing 14-23 record and have lost seven games out the last ten they played.
John Wall himself hasn't been that swift and ferocious he is known to be while on the court. The guard has appeared in 32 games and averaged 20.7 points, 8.7 dimes in 34.5 minutes of play per game.
And now the blow that has come Wizards' and Wall's way is rather disastrous than what they've seen so far. Wall is undergoing surgery on his left heel next week. This surgery will sideline him for 6-8 months of basketball action. Wizards' reserve guard Tomas Satoransky will start in Wall's place while he is out.
Wizards made it public through their website on Saturday night:
Wizards guard John Wall will undergo a debridement and repair of a Haglund's deformity and a chronic Achilles tendon injury in his left heel. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Green Bay, WI, next week on a day to be determined. Wall is expected to return to full basketball activity in approximately six to eight months.
The Washington Wizards are facing some serious turn of events this season. The John Wall episode is going to be a major setback to their playoff hopes. In the John Wall and Bradley Beal era, the Wizards have made it to the playoffs four times in last five years.
They have not been able to build a good supporting cast around Wall, Beal and Porter Jr. Dwight Howard has been out with injury. Marcin Gortat was traded for Austin Rivers, who was supposed to be the back-up for Wall; but then Rivers and Kelly Oubre Jr. were traded to Phoenix for Trevor Ariza.
Wizards are ready to put all their assets on the table in order to revamp the franchise. The five-time All-Star awaits his fate which is indeed entangled with that of the Wizards. It is going to be interesting how they work out the math and who will be the faces to represent the franchise when the dust settles.