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Isaiah Whitehead undergoes wrist surgery, done for year

NBA: Brooklyn Nets at Houston Rockets Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Shams Charania tweets — and the Nets confirm — that Isaiah Whitehead underwent wrist surgery Tuesday to repair ligament damage in his right wrist.

Specifically, Whitehead underwent surgery to repair the scapholunate ligament in his right wrist. The procedure was performed by Dr. Michelle Carlson at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The Nets did not say when or how Whitehead hurt his wrist.

The Nets noted that “A timetable for his return to basketball activity will be determined at a later date.” With only eight days left in the season, Whitehead is in effect lost for the season.

The Brooklyn-born Whitehead appeared in 16 games for Brooklyn this season, recording averages of 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 11.2 minutes per game. He also appeared in 30 games on assignment with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s NBA G League affiliate, averaging a team-high 22.3 points per game along with 3.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.7 minutes per contest. Over the last six games of Long Island’s playoff push, Whitehead averaged 32 points and in February had a 52-point game, the G-League’s high game for the season.

Not only did his Long Island gig give Whitehead more minutes, but they also used Whitehead’s time in Long Island to help him expand his game, going from traditional point guard to a more off-ball game, both at the 2 and the 3.

“It’s boosted his stock, quite honestly,” Kenny Atkinson told Newsday’s Laura Albanese last week. “I do like that we saw him much more off the ball. We’re thinking that’s probably going to translate better. He can still have the ball in his hands and we’re multi-positional and all that, but he’s definitely really good about being off the ball, scoring the ball off the ball and defending off the ball.”

Whitehead has a $1.54 million team option for next season, which must be exercised by June 30. It’s expected that the Nets will retain him.