Wall to make preseason debut vs. Knicks

The Washington Wizards seemed to pick up this preseason where they left off at the end of 2015-16: with injuries to several key players. The good news is they're about to get All-Star point guard John Wall back in game action for the first time since early April.

Wall will make his 2016 preseason debut Monday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, he told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.

The 26-year-old sat out the last five games of last season before undergoing surgeries on both knees (he had calcium deposits removed from his left knee, and had an arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from his right) and spending the summer recovering.

Five months after the surgeries, Wall, slightly ahead of schedule, feels ready to go.

"We had it planned out," he said. "After 5-on-5 and a couple good days of practice, I'll play like a couple minutes tonight and see how it goes."

The Wizards were the league's most snake-bitten team last season, as injuries derailed a hopeful campaign and relegated the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinalists to the lottery.

Wall didn't have much help, but he did his damnedest to drag the Wizards to the playoffs, averaging career highs in points (19.9), rebounds (4.9), assists (10.2), and steals (1.9) across 77 games.