PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are already ruling center Oso Ighodaro out for Saturday night's home opener against the Golden State Warriors.
Ighodaro exited the Suns' loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday a right hip injury, one that also kept him out of the team's final preseason action.
Speaking with reporters at Friday's practice, Suns head coach Jordan Ott clarified the injury and says Phoenix believes their center avoided something serious:
"Oso, pretty good report overall. It's an oblique strain. He'll be out for sure tomorrow. But we hope it's just more day-to-day than long-term. I think we avoided something serious," he said (h/t Duane Rankin, Arizona Republic).
"... It looks like it's not as serious. It looks like we avoided something."
Phoenix will reveal their official injury report later today, though Ighodaro will be out according to Ott. Susn guard Luke Kennard practiced today and is heading in the right direction, according to the team.
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Ighodaro entered the regular season with big expectations for his third year. After filling in for the injured Mark Williams last year, he became a favorite of Ott for his rim-running ability, hub as a playmaker on offense and versatility on defense.
However, it was a major surprise when Khaman Maluach was elected as the team's starting center in Portland with Williams still out with his shoulder injury.
Ighodaro, objectively, looked better than Maluach in their comparative minutes in Portland, though the Suns weren't able to get anything going in the blowout loss with either center in the lineup.
"It's probably a tough assessment. Throwing young guys into the fire. That's what you see and he'll learn from this," Ott said after the loss to the Trail Blazers (h/t Rankin).
"He was part of the group that's out there to start the game when that avalanche is coming. We need him. We need him to grow. He will continue to grow. We need him to take a step. He'll take steps. Now depending on what happens to Oso (Ighodaro), we need him even more. That's a spot we're in and I know he will take the challenge."
Now, the Suns move into their home opener against the Warriors with two centers missing, propping Maluach and two-way big man Duop Reath into larger roles than initially anticipated.
Phoenix travels to play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday before hosting the Denver Nuggets next Friday, so it's possible we see Ighodaro return sooner as opposed to later.
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