Kendrick Perkins Likely to Miss Entire Preseason

Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins could sit out all seven preseason games after undergoing surgery on his wrist in July. This is according to OKC GM, Steve Presti via The Oklahoman.

Presti held a press conference Wednesday morning where he addressed several issues regarding the team and said he is hopeful for Perkins’ return in time for the start of the 2012-2103 regular season.

“What we’re trying to do is have him ready for the first game, or the beginning of the regular season,” Presti said. “His conditioning, his fitness and his levels, he’s done a fantastic job. His wrist is a thing that we have to be very cautious with and we will be.”

Two weeks ago Perkins told The Oklahoman that the surgery he had on his left wrist to repair a ligament tear will require at least three months of recovery time. He only has two weeks to go and could be cleared to play as early as October 11th, but it appears the Thunder front office and coaching staff doesn’t want to take any chances.

Oklahoma City added some big men to its training camp roster in the meantime to fill in Perkins’ shoes, including , Hasheem Thabeet and Daniel Orton. They also have Cole Aldrich, who has been with the team since being drafted in 2010. It’s unclear who will be the primary backup for Perkins, but Presti is pleased with the roster and the options available to him and coach Scott Brooks.

“I feel good about the guys that we have in camp,” Presti said. “Hasheem has done a very good job this summer. His conditioning has vastly improved. Cole’s done a nice job. We know what we did last year in limited opportunities. So we’ll evaluate that and Scott will make those decisions as we get through training camp.”

The Thunder will hope to get Perkins back as soon as possible, as he was an integral part of last year’s squad that went all the way to the NBA Finals.