Thunder rookie Josh Giddey won’t play any more this season because of soreness in his hip, tweets Oklahoma City reporter Rylan Stiles.
Coach Mark Daigneault made the announcement during a session with reporters before Saturday’s game. Giddey hasn’t played since Feb. 24, and Daigneault said the “return-to-play portion” of his rehab process would last longer than the two weeks that are left in the regular season. Giddey told the team that he has never experienced problems with the hip before, Daigneault added.
“It’s a tricky injury,” Daigneault said. “A little unpredictable, where as Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is a bone, a break, it’s more predictable.”
Giddey, the sixth player selected in last year’s draft, will end his first season with averages of 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 54 games. He was selected to participate in both the Rising Stars tournament and the Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend and was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month four times.
Daigneault offered two other medical updates, saying Robinson-Earl will definitely be back this season (Twitter link), and he plans to talk to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander about his status. Gilgeous-Alexander has been in and out of the lineup with an ankle injury, and Daigneault said, “The game to game thing is not sustainable.” (Twitter link)
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