One month after the Nets first announced Deron Williams had suffered a sprained right ankle, it still remains unclear when the star point guard will return to the floor.
Williams has increased his workload during practice each of the past two days, according to coach Jason Kidd, and Paul Pierce went as far as to say the team “had a chance to see [Williams] get his feet wet a little” during the two practices, which could be taken as a positive sign in his recovery.
But when Kidd was asked Saturday if Williams could play in either of the team’s final two preseason games — Wednesday in Boston or Friday in Miami — Kidd declined to say.
“I have no idea,” Kidd said. “I’m only worried about what he can do [Sunday].”
Kidd gave a similar answer when asked if he’s confident Williams will be ready for the team’s season opener on Oct. 30 in Cleveland.
“We’re only on Oct. 19,” he said Saturday. “I’m just trying to get to the 20th.”
That has been the basic stance the Nets have taken on this injury since it was first announced the day before Williams hosted his charity dodgeball tournament on Sept. 19, which he attended wearing a walking boot. Williams said that was a preventative measure after an MRI exam showed “a little inflammation” after he sprained the ankle and suffered a bone bruise during a workout in Utah early last month.
“They have me in [the boot] now so I don’t have to worry about it when the season starts,” Williams said that day. But he also said then that “I’ll be ready” when the season starts, and that his plan was to be able to fully participate in training camp.
Instead, Williams has been limited, at best, in practice since training camp began Oct. 1, and the Nets only have said he is “day-to-day,” and his status for opening night is up in the air.
“That we’re taking it day by day,” Kidd said when asked if anything had changed to keep Williams out this long.”
Kidd did say Williams looks like he’s getting better.
He worked out [Saturday and] he looked good, so I think he’s going in the right direction,” Kidd said. “He’s doing everything that the doctors and the trainers have asked him. … It’s a process, and he got better [Saturday].”
After dealing with issues with both ankles last season — including getting three separate cortisone shots and undergoing platelet-rich plasma treatment — it’s understandable the Nets have been cautious with getting Williams back out onto the floor, and the point guard admitted Friday he has been frustrated by the way the process has dragged through the opening three weeks of the preseason.
The question now is: Will Williams go forward enough to play in a game this week, or in the season opener next week? That remains to be seen. When he spoke to reporters Friday, Williams said part of what has allowed him to remain patient has been conversations with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry about understanding that it’s how he feels in May and June that matters, as opposed to October and November.
For Pierce, after seeing the Celtics suffer at least one significant injury each year since winning the title in 2008, it’s a message he has learned from experience.
“Why come back when you’re only 75, 80 percent? Then you come back and you go back down to 50 percent,” Pierce said. “We’d rather see a guy take all the rest that he needs and get to 100 percent so he’s ready to go.”