Yanic Konan Niederhauser Shares New Injury Update After Four Months

Los Angeles Clippers center Yanic Konan Niederhauser has not played since March 4, when he landed awkwardly after blocking a shot in a win over the Indiana Pacers and suffered a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.

The injury required season-ending surgery and cut short a rookie year that was just starting to take off, as the 23-year-old had moved into the rotation once Ivica Zubac was traded to Indiana at the deadline.

Four months later, Konan Niederhauser is offering a first real look at how he has spent his recovery, and the answer shows up on the scale.

Speaking with Clippers reporter Joey Linn, the Swiss big man revealed he is up to 265 pounds after deciding the layoff was a chance to remake his body.

"I was 238 when I got hurt, so that's 27 pounds," he said. "Once I got hurt and heard I had to get surgery and everything, I started thinking, 'What can I do now? What's next?' One thing was just to work to get heavier and stronger. That's what I focused on the whole time because that's what I could do."

The mindset stands out as much as the number.

Konan Niederhauser could not run or jump for months, and he still had a follow-up procedure this offseason to remove hardware from the original surgery, which is considered a normal part of the process.

Rather than sit and wait, he attacked the one thing he could control, and added strength should help a young center who spent his rookie year battling grown men in the paint at a lighter weight.

Before the injury, Konan Niederhauser averaged 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds on 64 percent shooting across 41 games, and those numbers jumped to 7.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks over his final nine healthy games once the Zubac trade opened up real minutes.

Ty Lue called him a game changer after a four-block night against Golden State, and the praise fit what the film showed.

The Clippers finished 42-40 and lost to the Warriors in the Play-In Tournament, then spent the spring admitting the center spot is the roster's biggest hole.

A 23-year-old rim protector on a rookie deal is the cheapest possible answer to that problem.

The pairing with Keaton Wagler is what makes his return so interesting.

The No. 5 pick has already flashed in Las Vegas, where he scored 23 points against the Jazz before adding 16 more against the Lakers, and the Clippers sit 2-2 in Summer League play.

Wagler is a shooter and creator who thrives with a screener diving to the rim, and a bigger, stronger Konan Niederhauser gives him exactly that, a lob threat who punishes defenses for chasing Wagler over screens while erasing rookie mistakes at the other end.

Los Angeles drafted its backcourt of the future in June, and it may have already had the frontcourt half of that future on the roster all along.