In September, Arenas underwent a third operation on his surgically repaired left knee to clean out fluid and debris, and was expected to miss at least the first month of the season. The forecast came in longer than expected, as Arenas missed 5 months of action due to concerns on his knee before returning on March 29, 2009. In the first game of the preseason, Jamison suffered a right knee contusion, and was expected to miss the rest of the preseason. Haywood announced that he would undergo surgery on his right wrist and was expected to miss 4–6 months. The preseason marked the return of Etan Thomas who had missed all of the 2007–2008 season while recovering from open heart surgery. The Wizards added guard Fenny Falmagne from the Dakota Wizards on August 23, 2008 that later was waived by the team after knee injury.