When it comes to pre-season games, one of the key aspects for teams is to build up the fitness level of players. This means that any injuries suffered by key players can be a cruel blow, impacting on the build up to the season and the actual season itself. This is why the Washington Wizards will be looking back at the weekend with a sense of anger and annoyance. The team has lost out on the services of their guard Bradley Beal, and it is believed he is going to be out of action for up to eight weeks. This is due to the player breaking his wrist and it is believed that he will undergo surgery for the injury in the couple of days.
The injury occurred during an exhibition game against the Charlotte Hornets. The incident occurred when Beal was fouled by P.J. Hairston of the Hornets in the first half of the game. At the time, it was believed that the injury wasn’t too bad with the Wizards believing that it was merely a sprain but examinations on Saturday found that there was a minor fracture in the wrist. Words like minor can give you hope that the damage isn’t too severe but it will be enough to rule the player out for two months. On Saturday, the players’ agent, Mark Bartlestein was hopeful that there would be no need for surgery but this turned out to not be the case. The final results from the physicians indicated that surgery was required to ensure the player was able to get back on track in the best possible manner.
Beal has time to bounce back
Given that Beal is only 21 years old, he has a long career in front of him and it is far better than he bounces back in the strongest manner possible. As he is still a young player, he should be able to bounce back effectively. The club has announced that there has been no displacement in the wrist and there has been no nerve damage, both of which are positive elements. An injury of this nature would have ruled Beal out for much longer so in that respect, the injury could have been much worse than how it panned out.
This will be a huge blow to the Wizards because Beal was a big player for the team. Beal managed to average more than 17 points in a game for the season and there was hope that his partnership with Wall would spur the Wizards on to bigger things this campaign. The team managed to reach the Eastern Conference semi-finals, losing out to Indiana, and some people were tipping the Wizards to go even further this time around.
The Wizards have options to replace Beal
It is not as though the Wizards are short of options in replacing the player. Glen Rice Jnr showed that he has talent with the MVP award at the Samsung Summer League, which was played out in Las Vegas this year. There is also the fact that the team can turn towards veterans such as Xavier Silas or Garrett Temple.
At this point in time, the Wizards have 14 players under contract, which means that there is space for them to add someone one. This could see the Wizards going for Ray Allen, who is still a free agent and hasn’t confirmed any move yet. In the past week, Allen’s agent has dampened down talk that Ray could be heading to Cleveland, so there is a chance for Washington to swoop in and add some experience to their line-up.
At 3-1 down in the NBA Finals, many people predicted that the Cleveland Cavaliers would lie down, perhaps looking for the pain to be over and done with for another year. After all, they were facing the record breakers, the team that had shown themselves to be the best of the best by a good...