It appears that Andrew Wiggins would need more time in order to make a return for the Golden State Warriors.
Prior to the Warriors’ Christmas Day duel with the Memphis Grizzlies, head coach Steve Kerr relayed that Wiggins’ right adductor strain has “lingered” longer than what the team’s medical staff expected.
“With groin injuries you have to be careful,” Kerr said, via San Francisco Chronicle’s C.J. Holmes. “Director of Sports Medicine and Performance Rick Celebrini told us if we brought him back too soon and he re-tweaked it, it could put him out a month. And so we’re just trying to be cautious and give him an extra day or couple of days, whatever it’s going to take to get him back. So hopefully he’ll play soon, but I can’t tell you exactly when that is.”
Kerr didn’t provide any clear timetable on when will Wiggins be available. He added that the forward must be cleared for live-action drills in practice before making a needed comeback for the Dubs.
The Warriors had initial optimism that Wiggins’ recovery will work well, wherein the star forward was activated to play practice last week. He has been inactive to play competitive basketball since Dec. 3.
As such, Golden State will continue to lean on the production of their remaining top units, with Stephen Curry also still set to be re-evaluated in the next two weeks.
In 22 games played this season, Wiggins is averaging 19.1 points while grabbing 5.1 boards and 2.2 assists. He is also averaging a career-best in field goal shooting (51.1%) and steals (1.4).
The Warriors are currently in 11th place in the West and they can only hope for his immediate healing in order to elevate upwards in the conference ladder.
