What It Means:

Ajinca was expected to return in 4-to-6 weeks after receiving bilateral knee injections on October 20th. We haven't heard much about him since then, but it appears that the problem became serious enough that it required surgery. The hope is that he'll return healthy next season, in the final year of his contract. Omer Asik will serve as the backup center the rest of the season for New Orleans.

Ajinca didn't play a single game in the 2017-18 season. He will have missed at least 14 games in each of his 8 NBA seasons to date. He's due $5.3 million in 2018.