From the AP...
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers guard A.J. Price has undergone surgery on his left knee and will go through the rehabilitation process in Indianapolis.
The Pacers said Price had successful surgery Tuesday to repair a fractured patella. He is expected to be out four to six months.
The second-year guard averaged 7.3 points, 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds in his rookie season with Indiana. He started twice in 56 appearances and was a regular part of the team's rotation during the second half of last season.
Price was injured Saturday night while playing in a charity game in New York.
DENVER -- Denver Nuggets forward Chris Andersen recently underwent surgery to fix a partially torn patella tendon in his right knee.
Andersen, a crowd favorite known as "Birdman," injured his knee last month in Game 2 of a first-round series against the Utah Jazz. He is expected to be fully healed in time for next season.
The shot-blocking specialist ranked sixth in the league in that category, swatting nearly two shots a contest. He also averaged a career-high 6.4 rebounds.
colonel: From the AP... INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers guard A.J. Price has undergone surgery on his left knee and will go through the rehabilitation process in Indianapolis. The Pacers said Price had successful surgery Tuesday to repair a fractured patella. He is expected to be out four to six months. The second-year guard averaged 7.3 points, 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds in his rookie season with Indiana. He started twice in 56 appearances and was a regular part of the team's rotation during the second half of last season. Price was injured Saturday night while playing in a charity game in New York.
Six months would have him back on the court at Thanksgiving, missing a month. Or, do they mean he starts getting ready to play then?
Can't see not keeping him in the 13th either way, but it sucks.
Missed this...
Andray Blatche will miss at least three months after surgery to repair a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, the Washington Post reports. (Jun 25)
From NBC Sports...
The hits just keep coming for the Boston Celtics. Losing game seven of the NBA Finals in heartbreaking fashion would be enough to ruin an entire offseason for most teams. In Boston, losing game seven was just the overture to an off-season of uncertainty and misery.
On Tuesday, 2008 Finals MVP and franchise mainstay Paul Pierce opted out of his contract. A few hours later, Celtics fans were treated to the news that the knee injury Kendrick Perkins suffered during Game 6 of the Finals is much more serious than it was originally believed to be.
According to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald, a post-game 7 MRI on Perkins' knee revealed that Perkins had torn his ACL. Perkins will undergo surgery on the knee a week from Tuesday. If all goes well, Perkins will be out of action until late December or early January. It's tough news for Perkins, who has played in at least 72 regular-season games in each of the last four years.
To recap, the Celtics aren't sure if Doc Rivers will return. They have already officially lost Tom Thibodeau, a defensive wizard and perhaps the best assistant coach in the league. Their starting center will not be in the lineup on opening day, and their starting wings are both unrestricted free agents.
Not that long ago, the Celtics were 12 minutes away from an NBA Championship. Today, the Celtics don't have much more than an emerging young superstar, cap space, and the hope that everything will work out okay for the league's most decorated franchise. As of this moment, it doesn't look like the Celtics will replicate their 2010 playoff run any time soon. However, if the Celtics' 2010 playoff run taught us anything, it's that writing off the Celtics too early can be a big mistake.
Kenyon Martin says he has no timetable for his return from his latest knee operation.
The Denver Nuggets forward spoke briefly after arriving at his basketball camp in the Rocky Mountains on Tuesday, and in his first public comments since his latest operation, Martin told The Associated Press his surgically repaired left knee was feeling better but that he had no idea when he'll hit the NBA hardcourt again.
"The timetable is when I'm ready. When the knee is ready," Martin said. "No timetable has been set. As far as coming back, when I'm ready, I'm ready. I'm doing all I can. I am rehabbing every day. Twice a day some days. So I'm definitely making progress."
Martin, who missed several weeks down the stretch last season, is the first pro player in major American sports to successfully return from microfracture surgeries on both knees.
He was in the midst of playing some of the best basketball of his career when he had another setback with his troublesome knees. He returned at less than full strength for the playoffs, where the Nuggets were eliminated in the first round by the Utah Jazz a year after reaching the Western Conference finals.
"Disappointing the way it ended," Martin said. "We have to look at some things. Maybe add some people, subtract some people. Who knows? We have to evaluate something. That's not acceptable. To make it to the Western Conference Finals and [then] not get out of the first round? That's unacceptable."
Martin is entering the final year of his contract and the Nuggets can either rely on him as they make one more run at a championship with their veteran roster or try to trade him, although his $17 million salary and history of knee troubles complicates that option.
"It's the last year on my deal," Martin said. "We'll see how it goes."
A bigger question mark facing the Nuggets this summer is whether All-Star Carmelo Anthony will sign a three-year, $65 million extension that's been on the table for weeks.
Anthony, who is getting married this month, hasn't indicated one way or another what he'll do, although he has said he'd like the Nuggets to add some pieces to help him make a run at a title. Denver was unable to trade back into the draft last month to select another big man to go with the talented but oft-injured trio of Martin, Nene and Chris "Birdman" Andersen.
If Anthony spurns the Nuggets' offer, they might have to consider trading him to avoid losing him for nothing in a year, when he would be the headliner of the 2011 free agent class.
Martin said he hasn't a clue what Anthony will do.
"I have no idea. We are friends inside and outside of basketball. So I don't ask him about that," Martin said. "There's a lot of speculation. He doesn't have a thing to worry about."
From ESPN...
Michael Redd is being cautious in his recovery from a second major knee operation and may not return until February 2011, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Saturday.
According to the report, Redd is worried that rushing his return could lead to the same result as last season.
Redd blew out his left knee 47 games into the 2008-09 season and rehabbed in time to open 2009-10 with the Bucks. But Redd played in just 18 games and wrecked the same knee again on Jan. 10 against the Los Angeles Lakers, spurring doubts about his effectiveness after his second surgery in as many years.
Redd had surgery on the injured knee on March 2.
Redd, due an insured $18.3 million next season, is entering the final year of his contract. His expiring deal could be a key piece for the Bucks after an offseason spent gearing up for an improved run in the revamped Eastern Conference.
The Bucks re-signed John Salmons and signed free agent forward Drew Gooden. Milwaukee also acquired forward Corey Maggette from Golden State for swingman Charlie Bell and center Dan Gadzuric.
All-Star center Andrew Bogut is currently rehabbing an elbow injury.
From the Indianapolis Star...
Pacers center Roy Hibbert injured his right knee Tuesday while playing for Jamaica against the Dominican Republic. It doesn't appear that's it's a serious injury.
"He slipped on the floor and hurt his right knee," Jordan Olivo told The Indianapolis Star. "I don't think it's serious. I think (the MRI) is more for precaution. He was not in the game (Thursday), but he was there. He ran, he walked very well. I talked to him and he said he will return to the States to have (an MRI), but only for precaution."
"The injury is believed to be minor and Hibbert is en route back to Indianapolis to be examined by team doctors," the Pacers said in a statement Friday afternoon.
From ESPN Insider...
Though Josh Howard tore the ACL in his left knee in March, teams are still showing interest.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Bulls and Celtics are both interested in Howard -- who was an All-Star as a member of the Mavericks.
He writes: "While the Bulls could have the salary-cap space to sign Howard, depending on what happens with their offer sheet to J.J. Redick, the Celtics would need a sign-and-trade to arrange a deal because they have already used their midlevel exception on Jermaine O'Neal."
Neither team has offered a contract yet. Howard's timetable for his injury was six-eight months, but he told Yahoo! he's ahead of schedule and hoping to be back at the start of next season.
Howard missed several game in the 2008-09 season due to injury as well and there were disciplinary issues with him in Dallas, so he does come with some risk for either of these teams, should they extend him an offer.
The Golden State Warriors say top draft pick Ekpe Udoh will miss six months after undergoing surgery on his injured left wrist.
Udoh underwent the operation on Wednesday in San Francisco to repair a torn ligament in his wrist. He will have his wrist immobilized for about 10 weeks.
Udoh injured the wrist at a supervised workout at the team's facility earlier this month. He was selected sixth overall out of Baylor in last month's draft.
Jonny Flynn did not play during the summer league because of a hip injury, and it's bad enough that he'll undergo surgery next week to fix the problem, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
According to Spears, Flynn will be out three to four months.
Luke Ridnour, who was signed recently, will start in Minnesota until Flynn returns. The Wolves will sign a veteran point guard at some point after Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair are released.
The Memphis Grizzlies say rookie guard Greivis Vasquez underwent surgery on his right ankle to remove a bone spur.
The team said in a news release Tuesday night that the surgery was successful and he is expected to return for training camp in late September.
Vasquez was injured while playing in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The surgery was done in Baltimore.
He was a first-round draft pick out of Maryland in June.
From ESPN Los Angeles...
Los Angeles Lakers starting center Andrew Bynum has had arthroscopic surgery to repair a tear of the lateral meniscus in his right knee, the team announced Wednesday.
The surgery was performed in New York by Dr. David Altchek, who has operated on Bynum's knee in the past. It is Bynum's third knee surgery in the past three years and the second on his right knee.
The 22-year-old has missed 96 games during that span because of various injuries, but fought through this particular ailment, never sitting out a night during the Lakers' 23-game postseason championship run despite suffering the knee injury in Game 6 of the first round against Oklahoma City.
Bynum was able to play 65 games during the regular season and into the first round of the playoffs against the Thunder with a small tear in his meniscus of his knee, an injury that both he and the team were aware of since last summer. Bynum aggravated the tear on April 30 against Oklahoma City when he hyperextended the knee.
For more news and notes on the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky brothers. Blog
The 7-footer averaged 8.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.57 blocks in 24.4 minutes per game during the playoffs, twice needing the knee drained of fluid during the postseason and once more on June 22 after the Lakers' championship parade.
Bynum said after his exit interview with several members of Los Angeles' front office last month that he planned to work out with a Lakers trainer in L.A. and Vancouver following the surgery to rehab his knee and improve his core strength as a preventative measure against injuries in the future.
The Lakers expect Bynum to be available on a "limited basis" at the start of training camp, Sept. 25, which comes sooner this year than most because the Lakers will conduct the bulk of their camp in London and Barcelona as one of four teams participating in the NBA's Europe Live event.
The five-year veteran, coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 15.0 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds per game, is expected to make a full recovery by the start of the regular season in late October.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Craig Smith has undergone arthroscopic right knee surgery.
The team said Tuesday that Smith will be sidelined four to six weeks.
He averaged 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 75 games last season. He was re-signed as a free agent last month.
From the ESPN archives...
Dallas Mavericks guard Rodrigue Beaubois will undergo surgery Friday to have a pin inserted in his broken left foot, a procedure that is expected to sideline him two to three months.
"We're going to do it right so it's not a recurring type of situation," said Donnie Nelson, Mavs president of basketball operations. "It just depends on the healing process. When his foot is fully healed, we'll let him back on the court, and not until then."
Beaubois returned to Dallas on Monday after breaking the fifth metatarsal bone while working out with the French National team last week as it prepared for the FIBA World Championships later this month in Turkey.
An examination Monday evening by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard S. Levy, in consultation with Mavs team doctor T.O. Souryal, revealed that Beaubois had suffered a hairline fracture. Beaubois will miss the start of training camp at the end of September and he might miss the start of the regular season in late October.
"His prognosis is really good," Nelson said. "He'll miss some time, but he'll be back healthy as a horse."
The injury could stall the Mavs' plans of starting Beaubois at shooting guard and sliding Caron Butler to small forward while bringing Shawn Marion off the bench.
While the Mavs are grooming Beaubois to one day take over at point guard, his best moments last season, when he averaged 7.1 points on 51.8 percent shooting (including 40.9 percent from the 3-point range) in 56 games, came at shooting guard.
"It just depends how quickly he comes back," Nelson said. "Those situations are earned."
Beaubois' continuing education at point guard will cease for now. He was set to play the point for the French team with Tony Parker taking the summer off. The Mavs were eager to get their first look at Beaubois in international competition Aug. 15 at Madison Square Garden when Team USA, with new Mavs center Tyson Chandler, will play France in an exhibition.
"The national team was a nice-to, not a need-to," Nelson said. "We all saw what Roddy was capable of last year. It would have been nice, but injuries happen in sports and you can't control them."