Ian Mahinmi’s second MRI comes back clean, expected to miss another week

UPDATE: Mahinmi’s second MRI came back clean, but it looks like he’ll still miss a little more time.

It’s a little discouraging that his return is up in the air, but at least it doesn’t appear to be a major structural issue, so that’s a win I suppose.

The original post is below.

The one thing that’s given the Wizards some optimism through their rough start has been that their biggest signing over the summer, Ian Mahinmi, has only played one game so far this season. He had to undergo knee surgery during the preseason to repair some torn cartilage, made his return for one game against the Spurs back in November, and then he hasn’t played since due to soreness in his other knee.

He underwent an MRI last week that Scott Brooks said cleared him of any structural damage, but it looks like they’re going to take another look. J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic is reporting Mahinmi will get another MRI on his right knee.

One can only hope at this point that it’s just a precautionary move and Mahinmi will be able to get back on the floor soon. Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk about how the Wizards’ bench has struggled, particularly on the defensive end where Mahinmi could provide a big lift. If he’s out for an extended amount of time, the team is just going to have to ride it out.

The thing that’s really worrisome here is the Wizards didn’t rush Mahinmi back from his initial injury. The initial report was that Mahinmi was supposed to be back 4-6 weeks after his surgery, and he returned almost exactly 6 weeks later. They took it nice and slow and this is still happening.

Maybe the second MRI will just reconfirm what the first one showed and we’ll see Mahinmi back on the floor soon, but boy this sure feels like another classic Wizards injury that just drags on forever.