Reporting on The Pat McAfee Show, NBA insider Shams Charania offered this update on the Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis after he was seen on the floor working out before the Bucks game on Monday night.
“He looks really, really good. If this wasn’t a Celtics team that has the best starting lineup to me in the NBA — they’ve got the #1 starting five in the league, for sure — if they didn’t have the luxury of being where they’re at right now, maybe you’re a little more pressed to bring KP back,” Charania said. “But they have the luxury of having to be patient. They can wait. They don’t need to necessarily rush him back at all. If it ends up taking him until January, it takes until January, but right now, they’re targeting December. It could even be earlier, but right now, they’re focused on that month.”
Boston’s big man is rehabbing from successful surgery to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon back in June. The expectation was a 5-to-6 month recovery timeline, so this reported December target is in line with that initial diagnosis.
At Media Day, President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens suggested that Porzingis might even be ahead of schedule.
“[KP] seems to be recovering well. He’s very optimistic,” Stevens said. “I don’t know that we’re interested in putting a timeline on it because the injury is unique. But as far as how he feels and the progress that he’s made, I’d say we’re very, very pleased with where he is, and maybe a little surprised.”
Charania went on to explain some of the specifics and milestones that Porzingis needs to hit before returning to the parquet.
“The Celtics have a program for him. Essentially, once he’s hit the metrics on his different body parts and different elements — they’re essentially measuring parts of his body,” Charania continued. “Whether it’s his calf, his legs, his knee…he just had this kind of traumatic leg injury. Essentially, once his body and those muscle groups are all balanced and once he hits all those thresholds, he’ll be cleared to return.”
With the front court depth Stevens secured in the offseason, they’ll most likely take as much time as needed and maybe even more so with Porzingis’ comeback.
