Nets’ D’Angelo Russell has arthroscopy knee surgery, will miss time

D’Angelo Russell has played well since being traded across the country and handed the keys to the Brooklyn franchise. He has averaged 20.9 points and 5.7 assists per game, been a more efficient shooter (he’s only hitting 29.7 percent from three, but he is getting to the line more than he used to, is knocking it down from the midrange, and his true shooting percentage is at 53.9, about the league average). He may not look like what teams hope for out of a former No. 2 overall pick, but he’s played well.

Now the Nets will need to get by without him for a while — what was sold as a “knee contusion” by the team has turned out to require surgery, the team announced Friday.

While there is no timetable, it likely means a month to six weeks he is out. It depends on what they found and what was done in his knee, details we don’t yet have.

The Nets are already without Jeremy Lin, who is out for the season with a ruptured patela tendon. Spencer Dinwiddie will start at the point with Russell out, and guys such as Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead will need to carry more of the shot creation load.

Brooklyn is 5-9 on the season, and while not a good team they are better than many projected (and better than Sixers fans were hoping). This is undoubtedly going to be a step back for an offense already 23rd in the league.