There are some major changes taking place on the injury front for the LA Clippers. In the second half of Monday’s contest with the Knicks, Mason Plumlee collided with Julius Randle and suffered what was believed to be some type of knee sprain. He remained out for the remainder of the game.
On Tuesday, it was officially announced that Plumlee had been diagnosed with an MCL sprain. He will be re-evaluated by the Clippers’ medical staff later this week in Los Angeles.
The length of time Plumlee will miss due to this injury is still to be determined, but we can take a pretty good guess based on previous players to sustain the same injury.
Clippers center Mason Plumlee has a left knee MCL sprain and will return to LA this week for further evaluation, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 7, 2023
Mason Plumlee will likely miss extended time for the Clippers
One of the most prominent players to miss time with an MCL sprain in recent years was Kevin Durant. Back in January 2022, KD missed time due to a Grade 2 MCL sprain, which ultimately sidelined him for 20 games and roughly a month and a half of the season.
If Plumlee’s injury ends up being comparable to Durant’s from 2022, Clippers fans could possibly hope to see him on the floor by the second half of December. But of course, full details of the injury’s severity are yet to be revealed.
Six weeks would be a lot of time for the Clippers to be without their backup center who has provided solid minutes for them in the early going of the season. LA’s frontcourt was already noticeably thin, and this extra blow to their depth will not be easy to overcome.
Without Mason Plumlee’s presence in the post, expect to see players like P.J. Tucker and even Moussa Diabate get more playing time in his absence.