Los Angeles Clippers: Paul George may return sooner than expected

Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers underwent two offseason shoulder surgeries. Contrary to prior belief, he may be ready on opening night.

Paul George, the newly-acquired superstar of the Los Angeles Clippers, underwent two offseason shoulder surgeries. In May, he had a partially torn tendon in the rotator cuff of his right shoulder repaired, and in June, he had a tear in the labrum of his left shoulder repaired.

George had suffered these injuries towards the end of last season but was able to continue to play through the pain in the hopes that he could help (his now-former team), the Oklahoma City Thunder, make a playoff push.

Both surgeries were successful, however, the timetable for George’s return became very unclear.

Initially, he was expected to miss the start of training camp, but be ready come opening night. However, as the summer progressed, it had appeared that George may miss significant time during the regular season.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote in August that most people around the league did not expect George to be back until “mid-to-late November.” This would place George out of around 15 games, which could severely affect the Clippers overall seed in a competitive West.

Additionally, it would have a major impact on anyone betting on the Clippers over/under of 56.5 wins, according to DraftKings. I previously wrote an article on why I would bet the under on the Clippers record, with one of the main reasons being Paul George’s injury.

But now, things are looking upwards for Paul George, the Los Angeles Clippers, and their fans.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic  wrote an update regarding his recovery, and said that “Paul George seems to be ahead of schedule.”  For over three weeks, George has been at the Clippers facility practicing and weightlifting. He has not yet been cleared for contact but has been putting in tireless work on his shooting and individual scoring skills.

George has also sparked a lot of this interest and speculation due to his recent posts on his Instagram account (@ygtrece). In the past couple of weeks, he has posted multiple action shots of him training.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2N8ET5lXRV/

Unfortunately for us fans, the Clippers are going to lean to the side of caution and will take absolutely no risks with George. This may mean, even given George’s updated injury status, we will not be able to see a fully loaded Lakers-Clippers match up on opening night.

However, with the recent news that Kawhi Leonard will not sit out quite as many games with load management, bettors such as myself can start to put more stock in the Clippers securing the one seed.

With the Los Angeles Clippers in the spotlight this season, we all want to see them at full power with both George and Leonard. And now, it is looking like this will be more likely to begin the season.