The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams, who injured his left ankle at the 5:39 mark of the first quarter of Saturday night’s preseason game at Chicago.
As a result of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing conducted on Williams’ ankle earlier today, Jazz team physician Dr. Lyle Mason has determined that Williams suffered a second degree inversion sprain. The MRI also showed all bone structure and tendons in and around the ankle to be normal.
The time frame for Williams’ return to action is a minimum of two weeks.
Originally selected by the Jazz in the first round (third overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, Williams has appeared in 242 of a possible 246 regular season games and all 29 playoff games in his first three NBA seasons, posting career averages of 15.3 points and 8.1 assists in 34.4 minutes per game. Williams started all 82 games for the Jazz in 2007-08, averaging 18.8 points and 10.5 assists in 37.3 minutes per game. He became only the third player in NBA history to total 1500+ points and 800+ assists while shooting .500+ in a single season (Kevin Johnson, Magic Johnson) and was also selected to the All-NBA Second Team.
The Miami HEAT announced that forward James Jones underwent successful surgery on Saturday, October 18th to repair a ruptured extensor tendon in his right wrist. The surgery was performed by Dr. Ann Ouellette and consulted by HEAT team physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables. Jones is expected to be out three months.
The Houston Chronicle (Jonathan Feigen) reports: A day after Tracy McGrady expressed concern about whether he would be ready for the Rockets’ season opener Oct. 29, he was so encouraged by his play in Sunday’s scrimmage-heavy practice that he spoke confidently about playing in the preseason finale Thursday night in Sacramento. “Actually, I felt pretty good today,” McGrady said. “I wanted to really push myself in practice, to start today a push toward the game on Thursday. I came in here, did what I wanted to do, went hard and felt pretty good. “I am (encouraged.) It’s better for my psyche coming out here and knowing I can get up and down and I can do some of the things I had trouble with earlier. Still struggling a little bit defensively, but I’m coming around.”
The New York Daily News (Julian Garcia) reports on Nets forward Yi Jianlian’s preseason play so far: Yi has been pretty good offensively (14 ppg) but has struggled to grab rebounds (five in three games) and on the defensive end. Yi admitted he had a hard time with defending the pick-and-roll in his first two preseason games, but Frank said “it’ll happen” as long as Yi continues to work at it and learn how to play aggressively on that end “without committing needless fouls.” Frank added this, too: “I think the thing you can’t discount too is there’s a little bit – not much – but a little bit of a language barrier. So he’s got to do a little bit more thinking initially until he gets comfortable with voice recognition. He’ll get it. It’s just going to take some time.” As for rebounding, Frank said, “In the Olympics he was one of the leading rebounders, so I think he has it in him.”
The Boston Celtics announced today that the club has requested waivers on forward Darius Miles. The training camp roster now stands at 15.
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have requested waivers on forward Charles Rhodes.
The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has waived forward Elton Brown and guard Darius Washington.
The Milwaukee Bucks have requested waivers on guards Ron Howard and Kevin Kruger, General Manager John Hammond announced today.