Coming into the 2021-22 season, the LA Clippers were hopeful to get their rookies meaningful playing time. Whether in the G-League or sparingly in the NBA, Keon Johnson, Jason Preston, and Brandon Boston all showed flashes of potential in college as well as Summer League. Unfortunately, they'll be down a man for the next few months.

The Clippers announced that Jason Preston underwent right foot surgery. The operation, which took place in Los Angeles Thursday, was to repair ligaments in Preston's right foot. While there's no timetable for Preston's return, the release states that he's expected to miss extended time.

The injury Preston suffered was initially thought to be minor, per Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank.

“With Jason Preston and he's, he's really had terrific — he’s made terrific progress just his playmaking and pick and roll ability,” Frank said three days before Media Day. “Now, unfortunately, yesterday in a group workout, he hurt his foot. So it could be a little bit of a setback for Jason we'll have more information, probably within the next couple of days to really determine the severity of it, but he's made great progress up to, up to yesterday.”

Unfortunately, looks like the injury was much more severe than initially thought. The rookie took to Twitter to speak out following his operation, saying, ‘All a part of Gods Plan. Ready to attack this rehab head on and come back better than ever… LETS GO'

Preston has attended both of the Clippers preseason games so far, but has been wearing a walking boot. Last week in San Diego for training camp, Preston was using a scooter with his right leg elevated.

Preston played in all five Summer League games for the Clippers, averaging 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 46.2 percent from beyond the arc.

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Preston joins a list of Clippers players also rehabbing injuries in Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka. Leonard underwent ACL surgery this summer and has no timetable to return. Ibaka underwent back surgery during the playoff run, and was recently cleared for contact workouts. His timeline for a return is much closer than both Leonard and Preston.

“I know he's working and trying to get back on the floor as fast as he can, but we want to be smart about it,” Lue said on Wednesday. “We want to make sure we're doing the right thing by Serge and when he's ready, when he's 100%, and the doctors clear him to play, then we'll get him out there.

“He's very anxious. But we gotta be smart. Can't let the player dictate when they want to be on the floor because a lot of times, they're gonna get themselves in trouble because they will play hurt and they will play at 60-70% and that's only gonna set you back more. So we gotta make sure he passes all the tests, does all the right things and then just kind of go from there.”

The Clippers have two preseason games remaining: one against the Dallas Mavericks in Texas and the other against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Ontario, California.