Wizards' Ian Mahinmi: To make season debut Saturday

Mahinmi will make his season debut Saturday against the Spurs.

Analysis:

After undergoing left knee surgery in mid-October, Mahinmi has been slowly working toward his Wizards debut, but it was actually expected to come some point next week, rather than Saturday. Regardless, the Wizards will welcome the frontcourt depth, though coach Scott Brooks said he doesn't anticipate Mahinmi seeing significant minutes right away. Eventually, the expectation is that Mahinmi will serve as the primary backup center to Marcin Gortat on a nightly basis, which would result in reserves Jason Smith and Andrew Nicholson taking on lesser roles.