Tim Povtak of the Orlando Sentinel reports: The Orlando Magic's Grant Hill will have surgery today on his left ankle -- the third time in the past 20 months -- and effectively end any hopes the team had of contending for the National Basketball Association title this season.
Today's surgery in Baltimore will involve the removal of a painful bone spur and a procedure that will reinforce the site of Hill's original stress fracture, first diagnosed in April 2000.
Although the Magic expect Hill to miss the rest of this season, team officials and the doctors involved with the case continue to insist that this is not a career-ending injury.
"Obviously, there are no guarantees. This is not an exact science," said Dr. Joe Billings, the Magic's team physician who was at Tuesday's announcement. "But the specialists on our panel all felt this was not career-ending. This is something that needs to heal. It will heal, and he'll be better once it's fixed."
The Magic, though, will not be so fortunate when it comes to rebuilding their team. NBA rules do not provide for any salary-cap relief, preventing the team from trading for or signing another player this season who makes more than a $1 million minimum salary for veterans.
The Magic missed the Dec. 1 deadline to file an injury exception, which they might have been able to use to sign a player making 50 percent of Hill's salary. If doctors determine this summer that Hill can't play next season, they likely would use that 50 percent exception to sign another player.