Oklahoma City Thunder players Luguentz Dort, Mike Muscala and Ty Jerome all saw their 2021-22 seasons officially conclude Tuesday following surgeries to treat various ailments, per a team press release.
Dort had an operation to treat a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Muscala had a scope and lateral ligament repair on his right ankle. Jerome, who has been dealing with a hip injury, went under the knife for what the Thunder term to be a sports hernia, and could return in just eight weeks. Oklahoma City anticipates that Dort and Muscala will be ready to play in time for the beginning of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Muscala had been considering an offseason surgery to address the ankle injury, though it appears he opted to move the timeline up to treat it. The news of Dort and Jerome requiring surgeries comes as something of a surprise.
At 20-44, the rebuilding Thunder are currently the No. 14 seed in the Western Conference. The extended absences of Dort, Muscala and Jerome for the rest of the year should help Oklahoma City’s tank.
Per Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault revealed that the country’s top sports doctors were occupied with NFL Combine obligations, which led to all these surgeries all transpiring on the same day.
The defensive-oriented 6’3″ swingman Dort, still just 22, has emerged as one of the Thunder’s best players. In 51 games this year, he averaged 17.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.7 APG and 0.9 SPG.
24-year-old shooting guard Jerome logged 7.1 PPG, 2.3 APG and 1.6 RPG in 48 games (16.7 MPG) during his third NBA season.
30-year-old veteran big man Muscala averaged 8.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 13.8 MPG across 43 contests for the Thunder. The Thunder have a $3.5M player option on Muscala for the 2022-23 season.
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