It wasn't a full practice, but for the first time since late November the Wizards had Ian Mahinmi go through a complete shootaround Thursday before a game vs. the L.A. Lakers at Verizon Center.

He's not playing tonight and he has to go through a full contact practice before he's cleared, but this is the next step is for him. As CSNmidatlantic.com reported two days ago the Wizards expect him to play before the All-Star Game. They have seven games left until then to get the backup center on the court, but need to gauge is availability before the break to determine if they need to find a replacement big before the Feb. 23 trade deadline.

Mahinmi, their biggest offseason acquistion at $64 million, has only played one game, Nov. 26 for 14 minutes vs. the San Antonio Spurs, after returning from surgery to clean up loose cartilage in his left knee.

He developed tendinitis in his right one, too, however, and requred platelet-rich plasma therapy to both knees following his second MRI and was projected to be out for six weeks.

"We'll practice tomorrow and see how much he can go," Wizards coach Scott Brooks told CSNmidatlantic.com.

After doing just shooting drills and no contact for a while now, Mahinmi was doing this at shootaround Thursday:

Mahinmi went thru 1st full shootaround since Nov #Wizards @CSNWizards pic.twitter.com/fEx2plDYHs — J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael) February 2, 2017

As @CSNMA reported 2 days ago, Mahinmi is projected to play before #NBAAllStar break. Still has to go thru full practice #Wizards pic.twitter.com/4wzZ7cz7N9 — J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael) February 2, 2017

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