It seems like the Washington Wizards are bit by the injury bug every summer. Last year, Bradley Beal got hurt before the season began. The year before that, Emeka Okafor was sidelined and still hasn’t returned to the court.

This year, Jared Dudley opted to repair a herniated disc in his lower back which put him out of action for at least 3-4 months.

After losing Paul Pierce to the free agency market, the Washington Wizards had to find a way to replace his outside shooting and veteran leadership. That’s when Ernie Grunfeld agreed to acquire Jared Dudley from the Milwaukee Bucks after he surprisingly exercised his player option.

Although they probably didn’t know that Dudley needed to get surgery and would miss some time, the Washington Wizards knew that his back was bothering him, but went ahead and made the deal anyway.

Washington gave up virtually nothing for the veteran forward and they’re hoping he becomes a regular contributor once he makes his debut in Randy Wittman‘s lineup.

Washington has dealt with a number of players that had back or neck issues in the past. Martell Webster is the classic example. Webster, who had a third back surgery this past year, never really recovered. When the terms “back” and “surgery” are put together, fans tend to panic.

Dudley has been able to stay relatively healthy throughout the course of his NBA career. Back surgery is no joke, but in a recent interview with Monumental Network’s Dan Nolan, Dudley seemed pretty positive about his recovery:

It’s going well. I’ll be 8-weeks on Tuesday. Everything’s good, I’m pain free. I’m right on pace. If I had to use a timetable, I’d have to say I’m either right on pace or ahead of schedule.

The Wizards will begin training camp at Towson University later this month and will likely finish the rest of camp at their practice center inside the Verizon Center. Dudley, who might be ahead of schedule for recover, will still likely miss training camp.

If recovery is going as well as Dudley is saying, we could see the stretch four return to action sooner than expected. Dudley would only miss a handful of games and would be given an opportunity to get his legs underneath him before being thrust onto the court.

Washington will have plenty of wing players available that could fill Dudley’s role during his recovery. Dudley is the only “real” stretch four on the roster, but Drew Gooden has shown that he’s capable of spacing the floor for the guards and bigs.

Otto Porter will start at the small forward spot while Alan Anderson will likely be his primary backup. Of course, you’re also going to have Martell Webster available, who’s reportedly feeling great following this summer.

It would’ve been nice to have Dudley for training camp and the beginning of the season, but the Washington Wizards shouldn’t be too affected by his absence. If all goes according to plan, we should see him make his debut in D.C. soon after the season starts.