LA Clippers forward Brandon Ingram was out on the University of Hawai'i court for about 45 minutes prior to the team's first practice of training camp Tuesday morning, getting in some light shooting and court work as he continues to recover from heel surgery.
Ingram, then on the Toronto Raptors, missed the final two games of the first-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last April. He had surgery in May and, during the procedure, doctors discovered and repaired a partially torn Achilles.
The Clippers were aware of the injury and elongated rehab timeline when they opted to execute the Kawhi Leonard trade for Ingram. Interim president of basketball operations Trent Redden said that a projected recovery is "about six months less" than a fully torn Achilles.
The Clippers are practicing at the University of Hawai'i all week before their preseason opener in Honolulu on Sunday afternoon against the Golden State Warriors.
Prior to the team's first workout, Ingram went through what appeared to be a half-speed shooting routine and some light defensive slides with assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy before testing the heel a bit more with some half-speed dribble moves.
Ingram has been ruled out to open the regular season but head coach Ty Lue said the timeline for his return remains vague. When the team started the contact portion of practice, Ingram watched from the side.
"As he gets closer, we got to start getting him on the floor and going through the plays, seeing what he likes," Lue said.
