Ahead of the Trae Young debut and Julian Reese breakout game, the Washington Wizards announced a health update on new star forward Anthony Davis
Despite a 16 win season, Thursday proved to be an exciting one for the Washington Wizards given the debut of Trae Young and breakout performance of Julian Reese by the end of the night. Lost in the shuffle of the exciting day for the organization was an injury update for the other former All Star acquired ahead of the trade deadline with the team providing an update on Anthony Davis' recovery.
"Davis, who is out with ligament damage in his left hand, was re-evaluated Wednesday by Dr. Steven Shin of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He continues to progress as expected and has been cleared to begin limited on-court basketball activities," the team announced ahead of Thursday's tipoff.
The team also announced that Davis will be re-evaluated again in two weeks, putting a possible Wizards debut on hold with limited games remaining.
Washington, now 16-46 overall, will return to the court next on Sunday night when they travel to take on the New Orleans Pelicans, now a game that will feature a pair of former Maryland and St. Frances teammates with Reese and Derik Queen set to square off.
But with Davis set to be inactive again on Sunday, a re-evaluation in two weeks would sideline him for an additional eight games with less than one month of the regular season afterwards.
The team has remained cautiously optimistic about the chances of Davis making his debut with the team, the same way general manager Will Dawkins spoke about the chances of Trae Young making his way to the court.
"That's the goal. We want to see our guys together so we can build camaraderie and build some continuity towards the end of the season," Dawkins said in a radio interview with 106.7 The Fan last month.
Dawkins added that Davis had a doctor's appointment last week in the process of returning to the court, one of two big men who remain sidelined. Wizards star center Alex Sarr last played on Feb. 8 against the Miami Heat with a hamstring injury sidelining him since. The team initially announced that Sarr would miss approximately two weeks with the injury back on Feb. 12 with Bub Carrington eventually taking his spot in the Rising Stars Game, but that has yet to materialize.
As for Davis, he has yet to play since Jan. 8 as he ended his limited season with the Mavericks averaging 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds, his sixth consecutive season averaging a double double.