Orlando Magic forward Chuma Okeke injured his knee about a month ago and has missed the last 14 games going with rest and treatment as his options.
It wasn’t enough, so he has undergone arthroscopic surgery to repair his knee, the Magic announced. He has undergone chondroplasty — where the damaged part of the cartilage is trimmed off and the rest is reshaped. Okeke will be re-evaluated in a month.
Okeke has battled left knee issues going back to when he tore his ACL at Auburn. The Magic took him at No. 16 in the 2019 draft but he spent his first professional season in the G-League working to recover before coming to the NBA the past three seasons.
Okeke is averaging 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a game, but the potential 3&D wing is shooting 30% from beyond the arc this season and 36.8% overall (in the 18 games before his injury). He was fighting for minutes in a crowded Orlando frontcourt where Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner start as the forwards, then they can bring in Wendell Carter Jr. (when healthy, he is out right now), Admiral Schofield and Mo Bamba (more of a five) off the bench, plus Bol Bol gets some run.
Okeke has one season remaining on his rookie contract after this one and is extension-eligible after this season.