The Oklahoma City Thunder were disappointed after being eliminated in the playoffs by the Memphis Grizzlies just one year after making it to the NBA Finals and while Kevin Durant knows the team could have advanced, they were missing one of their best players in point guard Russell Westbrook.
The star point guard was injured in the second game against the Houston Rockets in the opening round of the playoffs and after that he was out for the postseason, basically ending any chance the Thunder had to make it. There is some good news though out of OKC, as according to CBs Sports.com, Westbrook is off crutches and now is ready to start a full rehab process to get back on the court in time for the season. The report said that he would be on crutches for about a month and now that it is done, he can start coming back for real and working out just six weeks after his surgery.
Westbrook suffered the injury when Patrick Beverley clanged into his knee with his hip and tore Westbrook's meniscus and that forced him out of the playoffs and into surgery. The Thunder never looked the same and he is expected to be back in time for training camp. The Thunder also has a top 12 pick from their Harden trade with the Rockets and is hoping for a player like Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Len and Steven Adams to fall to them.
"When we see players return quickly from these procedures, it's easy to see the short-term benefit of that," general manager Sam Presti said in April. "But they're returning because the meniscus was not able to be repaired. In fact, it is removed. Which allows there to be some short-term gain, but ultimately there's a long-term loss. So any time you enter into these types of situations, what you're looking for is a full repair, which is what Russell was able to have."
