I suspect they plan on treating it like that - and if he comes early - they will use him. At least that's what I hope they mean. Because we can use Nic.
I think you are right. Without the surgery actually going bad, there should be no difference in timeline yet. I think the 3-5 months is long enough that Nate is just considering it as out for the season.
umm... I hope our non trading GM is getting a bit nervous. I mean.... Webster and Cunningham are the only legit SFs on the roster and they both stink. um trade? please?
Yikes. Not a lot of positive roster news lately. There's something really weird going on, I mean just think of how many guys are actually on the shelf with long term injuries. Mills - foot Pendergraph - hip Batum - shoulder Outlaw - foot Webster - brain Blake - brain
I tend to agree with andalusian. I think they just don't want to advance a time table for his return that he'd be expected to meet. They tried that with Blake, Oden and Webster last year, to uniformly poor results. This time, I think they're going to start from the standpoint of assuming he'll recover the rest of the year and if it recovers 100% before then, it's a bonus.
Just the same way they missed the post-season last year after not making a mid-season trade. I'm amused that you consider any or all of these "big injuries" and all the players who are hurt landed on your "overrated players who can be shown the door" list.