Watkins tears ACL, will miss large chunk of upcoming season

Jamir Watkins will likely miss the 2026-27 season after surgery Thursday to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left, according to media reports.

Watkins, the Wizards second round pick in 2025, is signed to a two-way contract and would probably have shuttled between the Wizards and the Capital City Go-Go depending on team needs. The 25-year-old wing injured the knee during team’s summer league game against the Utah Jazz when he appeared to slip and immediately grabbed his knee.

Watkins returned to that game and totaled 20 minutes before missing the rest of summer league.

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It’s theoretically possible he could be back on the floor this season — athletes are returning to action in 6-9 months, though sports medicine experts indicate it can take a full year to regain full strength.

The technical term for this news: it sucks. While Watkins didn’t figure to be a major part of the team’s rotation this season, he’s a quality defender and blast of energy every time he steps on the court.

Hopefully he’ll be able to work on his shooting during the rehabilitation period.

Watkins, by the way, had a decent rookie season for a second rounder. His 63 PPA wasn’t great (in PPA, average is 100 and higher is better), but he held his own over 1,032 NBA minutes last season. And that PPA score was the team’s best score among rookies — Tre Johnson scored a 61, and Will Riley 57.

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Strengths for Watkins last season include disruptive defense and rebounding. He was above average in steals and blocks per possession, and the team was routinely bad (as opposed to historically bad) on defense when he was out there. And, the 6-6 wing averaged 9.0 boards per 100 possessions, slightly better than league average for all positions.

To earn a bigger role when he returns from injury, Watkins will need to shoot better (just 29.7% on threes last season) and foul less (6.0 fouls per 100 possessions).