All throughout the offseason, the common buzz word surrounding the Washington Wizards was continuity. The Wizards have it and the teams directly ahead of them in the Eastern Conference. the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, do not after their blockbuster trade in principle of Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder for Kyrie Irving. A hit to Washington's hope for a hot start due to continuity was sustained on Monday as Candace Buckner of the Washington Post reported that Morris would undergo surgery on Friday for a sports hernia injury sustained earlier in the offseason. The team later confirmed the procedure.
Morris, 28, is entering the penultimate year of his bargain contract and will reportedly miss training camp, which begins on September 26. The power forward has had an eventful offseason with the birth of his daughter as well as the ongoing trial for an alleged assault during his time in Phoenix. As a result of the other events going on in his life, the surgery was pushed back to this late in the offseason.
One note with his trial, if Morris is subject to anything but a pure acquittal, he may be subject to a 10-game suspension in accordance with the NBPA. The surgery and potential NBA discipline are likely independent, but could be a small silver lining if the rehab process overlaps with a potential suspension.
In his first full season with Washington, Morris averaged 14 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 36.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. At times, he was an absolute force for the Wizards on the offensive end of the court, but was consistently a physical enforcer on the defensive end.
Morris is approximated to miss six to eight weeks, which lands him to return, likely just to basketball activities, between November 3 and 17. He could miss somewhere around 15 regular season games so either free agent signing Mike Scott or veteran stretch four Jason Smith will step into the starting lineup against the Philadelphia 76ers as Washington will not want to rush Morris' rehab. In the past with Ian Mahinmi's injuries, the Wizards were patient to ensure he could practice a couple of times with the team fully before getting into game action.
Although inconvenient, injuries are part of the game and the Wizards will simply have to hope Morris comes back quickly and no chemistry is disrupted when he does return.