Rookie forward Usman Garuba will miss the next six to eight weeks for the Rockets after undergoing surgery to repair a left wrist fracture, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
The reports from Feigen and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski generally mesh with Tuesday’s update issued by Rockets head coach Stephen Silas, who said it was looking “pretty bad” at the time.
“He fell,” Silas said of how Garuba’s injury occurred. “I was talking to him about it. He was like, ‘Yeah, I fell, and I didn’t think it was that bad.’ But it turns out it’s pretty bad. He’s going to be out for a while. There is some talk about him needing surgery.”
Unfortunately, that surgical prognosis turned out to be accurate.
Garuba, a 6-foot-8 forward, has played only sparingly with the Rockets in the 2021-22 season. But the No. 23 overall pick from the first round of the 2021 NBA draft has logged more significant minutes for Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Vipers. Garuba was on assignment with the Vipers at the time of his injury.
Now 19 years old, Garuba has averaged 9.0 points (45.0% FG), 9.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 25.3 minutes with the Vipers. The timetable of six-to-eight weeks does leave some hope that he could return to game action before the 2021-22 season concludes.
