Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks said rookie Dariq Whitehead is expected to play this season after undergoing a second foot surgery over the summer.
Whitehead missed four games last season at Duke after undergoing surgery on the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot before the season. The bone did not heal properly, which prompted a “revision operation with bone grafting for a fifth metatarsal Jones fracture” in June.
The team knew when it drafted Whitehead with the 22nd pick in June there would be a chance he’d need additional time to rehab the injury. As a result, the franchise will not rush him back into action.
“(We) love the grit and determination that he has shown so far,” Marks said on Tuesday. “(His) rehab is going to plan and smooth. (I) wouldn’t put a timeline on when he’ll be back but the plan is that he’ll definitely be playing this year.”
The exact role Whitehead will fill is not known, though it is possible the 19-year-old will spend time in the G League once cleared to resume basketball activities. The organization wants to bring him along slowly since he has dealt with the injury for much of the past year.
Whitehead averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and one assist on 42.9% shooting from 3-point range last season as a freshman. He finished second in the ACC in 3-point percentage with the fifth-highest mark of any freshman in program history.
The Nets open the preseason on Oct. 9 versus the Lakers in Las Vegas.
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