Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. will have an operation to stabilize the third metacarpal on his left hand, the team announced.
The preventive procedure involves inserting a plate at the site of a fracture on Carter’s hand. He suffered the fracture in early November and had it surgically repaired at the time.
Carter will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks, the team added. That should give him plenty of time for offseason workouts before training camps open in late September.
Although he missed more than a month with the original injury, Carter still appeared in 55 games, making 48 starts and averaging 11.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 25.6 minutes per night.
During exit interviews after the Magic were eliminated from the playoffs, Carter talked about the difficulty of trying to return after surgery, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.
“It affected me in a lot of ways,” Carter said. “Mentally, being out of the rotation for a while, just watching from the sidelines while they’re doing such a fantastic job and then the pressure of coming back and picking up where Goga (Bitadze) and (Moritz Wagner) left off. It was tough. Then it got to a point where I was doubting myself a little bit — just being honest.”
Carter, 25, has two years remaining on his contract. He will earn $11.95M next season and $10.85M in 2025-26 before becoming an unrestricted free agent that summer.
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