It seems that Mason Plumlee has avoided the worst with recent injury

On Tuesday, we were given an update regarding the status of Los Angeles Clippers big man Mason Plumlee. According to reporting from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Plumlee has a left knee MCL sprain and will be headed back to Los Angeles for further evaluation.

Could Have Been Much Worse

Anytime you are dealing with knee injuries, there is always a chance that you are talking about something that could end your season. I mean, just look at the sad news we got about Robert Williams III this week.

In Plumlee’s case, it didn’t help that the incident where the injury in question took place looked especially gruesome. Here is a clip of the collision from Monday night’s game against the New York Knicks:

Mason Plumlee goes down after Julius Randle dives for the ball and goes into his left knee.

Very reckless/dangerous play here. pic.twitter.com/Esj0DwYkrl

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 7, 2023

We can argue over the maliciousness of the play on Julius Randle’s part (I personally think it was a complete accident), but the fact of the matter is that’s not the way your knee is supposed to bend. It was so bad that Plumlee had to literally be carried off the court by the team’s medical staff.

At first glance, that definitely looks like the kind of injury that ends your season early. But fortunately for Plumlee and the team, it appears they have avoided the worst-case scenario. Depending on the severity of the strain, Plumlee will miss a decent amount of time. But that’s way better than him missing the rest of the season.

Re: Durant: Recovery rates for MCL sprains depend on the severity of the sprain. The average lost time for confirmed G1 sprains in the NBA is ~17 days (~8.5 games). Grade 2 sprains (incomplete tears) result in an average of ~41 days lost (~21 games).

— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) January 16, 2022

The Clippers Need Size Badly

Despite the otherwise good news, the Clippers will be down their backup center for an indefinite period of time. This is especially damaging for the post-James Harden trade iteration of this squad – one that is seriously lacking in size.

As a refresher, that trade saw them part ways with Robert Covington, Markieff Morris, Nicolas Batum, and KJ Martin. All those guys are 6’6 or taller. Now, without Plumlee, the only guys who fit that criteria (who are part of the rotation) left are Ivica Zubac, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard.

Moussa Diabate will look to pick up some minutes in Plumlee’s absence. But even Leonard himself said that the second-year big needs some time to get up to speed.

Simply put, the Clippers are in desperate need of some size.