Kyrie Irving, the #1 pick in the 2011 NBA draft, missed almost the entire regular season of his lone year at Duke with a severe ligament injury before coming back to play in Duke's three NCAA tournament games at the end of the year. My understanding is he only did a few practices before playing his first game. So while no analogy is perfect, this may be the closest thing to precedent we can look at as far as the "how should MPJ's return be handled/how many minutes/what should we expect/how effective can he be" stuff. Here's how that went for Kyrie for what it's worth:
NCAA tournament first round vs. Hampton (his first game back after missing Duke's previous 26 games):
20 minutes
4-8 from the field
2-2 from three point range
4-4 from the free throw line
14 points
4 rebounds
1 assist
2 steals
1 block
NCAA tournament second round vs. Michigan:
21 minutes
1-4 from the field
0-2 from three point range
9-10 from the free throw line
11 points
3 rebounds
2 assists
1 steal
NCAA tournament sweet sixteen vs. Arizona (with an additional 5 days or so of practice)
31 minutes
9-15 from the field
2-4 from three point range
8-9 from the free throw line
28 points
0 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
NCAA tournament first round vs. Hampton (his first game back after missing Duke's previous 26 games):
20 minutes
4-8 from the field
2-2 from three point range
4-4 from the free throw line
14 points
4 rebounds
1 assist
2 steals
1 block
NCAA tournament second round vs. Michigan:
21 minutes
1-4 from the field
0-2 from three point range
9-10 from the free throw line
11 points
3 rebounds
2 assists
1 steal
NCAA tournament sweet sixteen vs. Arizona (with an additional 5 days or so of practice)
31 minutes
9-15 from the field
2-4 from three point range
8-9 from the free throw line
28 points
0 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
