The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is reportedly to miss the start of training camp.
The team confirmed that Gilgeous-Alexander suffered a sprained left knee and, therefore, will be away from the courts for three weeks. There is no information, for now, about the circumstances in which the injury would have happened.
The Thunder general manager Sam Presti will hold a press conference on this Friday, so more information about the injury is expected.
It is known, to summarise, that it was a grade 2 sprain of the medial cruciate ligament so far. This is a simple problem, but with a considerable recovery time variation depending on the particularities of the case.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander is not the first athlete that the Thunder lose even before the replay.
This year’s second pick in the draft, Chet Holmgren will not play next season because of a rare foot fracture he suffered in the offseason. The rookie planned to start, at first, the young Oklahoma team in the campaign that is about to start.
The 2022-23 season marks the first of five years for the point guard’s new deal with the Thunder. As a result, Gilgeous-Alexander Earn just over $170 million in salary. He averaged 24.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists last season.
The 24-year-old guard signed a long extension with the Thunder last year and has been considered one of the franchise building blocks for the organisation.
“It’s fair to wonder if the team is being overly cautious when it comes to Gilgeous-Alexander’s injuries and whether he would’ve played in more than 91 games over the last two seasons if the club was vying for a playoff spot,” Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors said.
With Gilgeous-Alexander and the talented Josh Giddey, the team has some good young players developing quickly.
The 2022-23 regular season starts in less than a month for the Thunder on Oct. 19 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
