Lennard Freeman out 3-4 months following successful leg surgery

NC State forward Lennard Freeman underwent successful surgery to repair a fracture in his lower right leg, NC State announced Friday. The surgery is expected to keep Freeman sidelined for three-to-four months. Given that timetable, Freeman shouldn't miss any portion of the 2015-16 regular season.

If it takes him the full four months to recover, he'll have about a month to get himself ready for the start of the season. That's not too bad, and if this happens to be the worst of the bad news this offseason, I'll take it.

It's the second consecutive offseason in which a player has undergone surgery, as Caleb Martin had a fracture in his foot repaired last summer. And that setback, which cost him a couple of months on the court, definitely didn't seem to hurt his development much.

Plus Lennard is making the move to the No. 1 jersey, which should more than overcome any lingering rust.