Los Angeles Lakers point guard Isaiah Thomas will be sidelined at least four months after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right hip.
Injuries have been a constant for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. The injuries have caught up with the team in recent weeks, as they were without four different rotation players at one time or another.
When one player comes back, another one goes out. Josh Hart is returning after being sidelined about four weeks, but Lonzo Ball is going to be sidelined again. Brandon Ingram returned this week from an almost four-week absence, but Isaiah Thomas is sidelined now.
Thomas has been battling an ailing hip for months. Thomas injured the hip in last year’s playoffs. He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers this offseason, and it popped up as the Cavaliers received a little extra in the trade as a result.
Thomas missed the first 36 games of the season as a result. It consummated in a failed experiment with the Cavaliers. Cleveland never meshed, and a major overhaul at the NBA Trade Deadline ensued.
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Thomas and Channing Frye ended up in Los Angeles, while Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. were sent to Cleveland. Thomas played in 17 games with the Lakers, but his season has now come to an end.
Earlier this week Thomas decided to undergo surgery to clean up his hip. It is a procedure he probably should have made last season, but he decided to rehab and try playing through it. The results weren’t great, and he decided to go under the knife.
Thomas had his surgery on Thursday, and we now have a timetable for his return. The team announced that Thomas will be sidelined at least four months after undergoing the arthroscopic surgery on his right hip.
According to Dr. Bryan Kelly of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, the procedure was done to, “clean up the joint of all inflammatory debris related to his injury from last season.”
Thomas showed a lot of heart trying to play through the injury, but it may now cost him in the long run. A four-month timetable means he should be ready to play in late-July, which gives him plenty of time to be ready for training camp. However, it is unlikely he lands a long-term contract.
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Coming off hip surgery, it is unlikely that Thomas has a team backing up the Brinks truck for him as he hoped last season. A one-year, prove it deal seems more likely, giving Thomas a chance to get back into free agency in the summer of 2019 with the hopes of landing a long-term deal.