Perkins, Walker Have Successful Surgeries

The Boston Celtics announced Wednesday that center Kendrick Perkins and second round draft pick Bill Walker both had successful surgical procedures today at New England Baptist Hospital. Perkins underwent arthroscopic left shoulder surgery while Walker underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery. Both surgeries were preformed by Team Physician Dr. Brian McKeon and was assisted by Dr. Alan Curtis and Dr. John Richmond. No timetable has been set for their return.

Source: RealGM

I have a feeling this is the right thing to do in both cases. Bill Walker said he would be back in 3-4 weeks but I wonder what the timetable for Perk is. And I wonder if this surgery means that both will be healthy long-term for sure. This is good to hear, even though surgeries like this usually don't have any problems.

The thing is, we definitely need to be looking at signing a backup center. Perkins is a lock to be the starter unless we're able to pull off a trade for Greg Oden or Dwight Howard, but as a safety blanket we need somebody to have his back. If he gets hurt we currently have Leon Powe, Brian Scalabrine and Glen Davis at backup center. PJ Brown could be back, but as of now he's said to be "leaning towards retirement" I say look at grabbing a player like Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo or Adonole Foyle. It doesn't neccessarily have to be a veteran but that would be nice.

With Bill Walker, I don't really think he's going to play much if he even makes the team after training camp. The surgery isn't really signifcant, but he could use all the practice time and training with this team of veterans as he can possibly get. He's a rookie and he's going to make mistakes, this injury isn't really going to change that. I expect him to be ready for training camp and spend most of the season in the D-League. He'll come up at the end of the year to play when the veterans need some rest and play spot minutes here and there with the NBA roster but as a Celtics die hard don't put too much on Bill Walker's plate. He might drop it.