Achilles injury recovery in the NBA

TL; DR this trade was a huge risk.

 

In the interview, Wall did with Gilbert Arenas, Arenas mentioned that Wall's injury was on his non-dominant leg, i.e. the leg he doesn't jump off of. I am wondering how much that plays a role. Arenas made it seem like that means the injury would not be as hampering.

Anybody know if WIlkens/Kobes injury were on their dominant or non-dominant leg?

 

Kevin Durant will pick up beautifully where he left off 18 months ago.
Klay Thompson will have a full recovery.

There are real questions if John can even walk or dribble a basketball again.

/media

 

Keeping Westbrook was a huge risk, trading for Wall is a huge risk. Wall was the only potential all star level player we had a chance of getting for him. The only other option was dumping Westbrook for spare parts and going full rebuild.

So there were no good options in regards to Westbrook who didn't want to be here, one last gamble with Harden and Wall is what we went with. Likely doesn't work out and Harden is gone, but we aren't any worse off.

 

I ask yet again...

What is risky about trading one of the worst shooters and defenders in the entire NBA who wants out while making $40 million a year? What are we losing out on here?

 

Keep in mind that Boogie has already technically come back from his Achilles injury playing 30 games for the Warriors in 2018-2019 playing reasonably well. Granted, he hurt his quad in April of 2019 then returned at the end of May to play in the Finals for GSW. He didn't play all that great in the 8 games he played in the playoffs but did play. Then he tears his ACL in August of 2019 offseason which seems to be common with Achilles tears since Klay just had the reverse happen where he tore his ACL then tore his achilles. ACL is not as bad of an injury as the achilles so hopefully Boogie has recovered from his ACL tear since August of 2019 and has already recovered from his Achilles injury of 2018.

As for Wall, he has been healed for several months now as he had a chance at returning to the Wizards in the bubble but the team and him decided not to risk it. Obviously Wall is a pretty big wild card but he tore his achilles when he was 28 just like Cousins. Cousins has a lot more weight to carry around than Wall as well but hopefully both can return to 75-80% of their previous form but have added maturity and Bball IQ to their game since they were last on the court. I always say 30 is when a light goes off in most athletes heads to start acting like a man and not a teen anymore. Granted both these guys still have battled some demons the last couple of years but for the most part seem like they are now headed down the right path and likely don't want to be remembered for being uber talented busts.

 

Someone has to to be the first to return to 100% form... why not Wall

 

Found this post:

 

It's not trading him it's what we traded for -- it may work out perfectly but trading a healthy player for a player coming back from an achilles rupture who hasn't played in two years is risky.

 

I’d rather have $40M on the bench in a suit than watch Westbrook in a Rockets uniform. /some CF probably

 

Having another disgruntled ball dominant guard making $40 mil who may never return to starter level putting us in a worse position at the end of the season?

 

To an extent, this is true. Media be hatin'.

But someone like Wall coming back from an Achilles raises more questions marks than a Durant or Thompson. KD and Klay never fully relied on their athleticism in order to do basketball things. Klay can still outshoot most NBA players if he just gets past half-court and statues at the 3pt line. KD can just shoot over you and shoot from anywhere.

The athleticism of players like Wall and Derrick Rose are so important to their overall game. If diminished in any capacity, their efficiency will be severely affected. Compound that with the fact that Wall is no sniper like Thompson, nor does he possess physical attributes that cause mismatches like KD.

tl;dr Wall at 80% of what he was pre-injury <<< Thompson / KD at 80% pre-injury.

 

While Wall did rupture his left achilles, I wonder if his dominant foot is actually his right foot since he routinely jumps off his right to dunk with his left hand. Interesting...

 

Yea but it's not risky at all given the alternative. You weren't going anywhere with Westbrook, and getting a pick for him was near-impossible.

It's a zero-risk move

 

When the choice is between a player with a potentially broken body and one with a broken brain, give me the one with the potentially broken body.

 

Who said John Wall was disgruntled? He reportedly wants to be here. And if he is disgruntled, who cares? That's what we already had, but now we have an extra pick and a player who's a better fit.

Zero. Risk.