Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Sept. 12, may not be ready to take the court when the season begins on Oct. 16.
Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti, spoke with the media on Thursday and emphasized that the organization will take a cautious approach with Westbrook before he returns.
Sam Presti says the team has never pushed a player to hit a specific date in recovering from injury, and won’t start now by rushing Russell Westbrook to be ready for game one.
Westbrook has already been ruled out for the preseason, and there’s no guarantee at this point he’ll be full-go by the season-opener. When the team announced his surgery on Sept. 12, they stated he’d be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks, putting that date into the second week of October and bumping up closely to the start of the season.
Though it’s possible Westbrook could be fully recovered just in time for the season-opener vs. Golden State, it’s important to keep in mind that rushing him isn’t worth the risk. When he gets cleared, he will have missed the entirety of training camp and the preseason, so thrusting him into the No. 1 role after immediately being cleared would be unwise, especially coming off a knee surgery.
With Westbrook sidelined indefinitely, newly-acquired guard Dennis Schroder appears to be in line for starting duties at the point alongside Paul George. Schroder averaged 12.9 points, 4.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game in five seasons with the Atlanta Hawks.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
