Raptors rookie Davis suffers knee injury

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In an off-season riddled with uncertainty, the Toronto Raptors have another conundrum on their plate.

Raptors’ rookie Ed Davis has suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee, with training camp set to start in just under two weeks.

Davis will get an MRI to determine the full extent of the injury, but it is reported to be a minor one with the 6-foot-10 forward only appearing to be in some discomfort.

He hurt himself after landing in an awkward way trying to collect a rebound during a pickup game in Mississauga on Wednesday.

Some of the Dinos’ younger players organized the game via social media outlets to set up open house pick-up events with fans in local gyms across the GTA.

The rookie big man was selected by the Raptors 13th overall in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft out of the University of North Carolina, and signed a contract with them on July 6, 2010.

He was originally predicted to be a top-10 draft pick, but his stock dropped because of a wrist injury that sidelined him for most of the NCAA season.

How does this impact the Raptors?

Until the MRI is official it’s tough to fully evaluate how this injury will affect Toronto’s fortunes.

If the injury is as minor as reports have made it seem then the first-rounder should be fine for the beginning of the season.

However, if the ailment is more severe, surgery may be required and he would probably be out for three months or more.

If the worse case scenario does arise, Davis can also choose to forego surgery, but his mobility and overall effectiveness will be greatly hampered, as evidenced by the season Los Angeles Lakers’ centre Andrew Bynum and Portland Trailblazers’ guard Brandon Roy each had a year ago.

Both players opted to delay surgery to the off-season after falling victim to meniscus tears, and their level of play greatly dropped from its usual level.

All is not lost in Raptorland though.

If the injury does turn out to be bad then that will make head coach Jay Triano’s choices easier because, at the moment, he has nine big men on the roster. If you include Davis, six of those players will be fighting for minutes as the season progresses.

Davis playing at full effectiveness would be welcomed by the Raptors because he had a good summer league, and, if he plays up to his talent level, he has the ability to give Toronto fans something to cheer about.

About this article

By: Steve Loung
Posted: Sep 17 2010 9:14 pm
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Filed under: Basketball Sports
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