3 Reasons why a Westbrook for Wall swap would be a mistake for the Rockets

2. Wall has a lengthy and devastating injury history

As mentioned earlier, Wall has not played in almost two years, due to a ruptured Achilles. For a player like Wall, whose game is based so heavily on speed, athleticism and quickness, there’s no guarantee that he’ll return to be the same player he was prior to suffering the injury.

What’s really scary about Wall is that his injury list is pretty extensive, as outlined below:

• Feb. 5, 2019-Had surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon.
• Dec. 29, 2018-Saw a specialist to deal with reoccurring pain in his left heel, and decided to have surgery to fix his discomfort, giving him an initial 6-8 months timetable, ending his season. Before the announcement of the injury, Wall missed four games in a four-week span.
• Jan. 30, 2018–Consulted with knee specialist and had a procedure on his left knee to ‘cleanup’ the area and ease pain, which gave him an initial prognosis of 6-8 weeks after already missing a game.
• Nov. 16, 2017–Had an MRI after left knee discomfort. He received PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections to reduce inflammation and missed nine games from Nov. 23 to Dec. 13.
• Apr. 10, 2017– Missed two games at the end of the season due to a quad injury. Both games were for ‘rest’ because the Wizards were already locked into the No. 4 seed for the playoffs.
• May 5, 2016– Underwent a procedure on both of his knees. His left was to ‘excise calcific deposits’ to ease the pain and his right was to remove ‘loose bodies.’
• May 3, 2015– Injured left wrist and hand in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks. He had five non-displaced fractures in his left wrist/hand, missing three games in the series.
• Sept. 28, 2012– Diagnosed with a non-traumatic stress injury in his left knee during pre-season. Missed the first 33 games of the season – Wizards were 5-28 during that stretch.

This is only a part of his injury history. This is not to say Westbrook has always been healthy, but more times than not, he is on the court giving his team whatever he can for them to win.

Next: No. 1