Blazers’ Moses Brown to undergo surgery for fractured wrist

Portland Trail Blazers center Moses Brown has been diagnosed with a non-displaced scaphoid fracture in his left wrist, which will require surgery this week, the team announced in a press release. A return timeline will be determined post-surgery, per the team.

A 7-foot-2 big man who played one season of collegiate ball at UCLA, Brown signed a one-year, partially guaranteed contract with Portland back in August. While it’s unfortunate for Brown that he’s out indefinitely, the good news is his salary became fully guaranteed after he remained on the roster past Sunday’s deadline — he’ll earn the full veteran’s minimum ($2,165,000) for a player with his level of experience.

Brown returning to Portland in the offseason was a reunion, as the 24-year-old spent his rookie season with the Blazers on a two-way deal. He has bounced around a good deal during his five seasons, having also played for the Thunder, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Clippers and Nets.

In total, Brown has averaged 5.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per night over 137 career regular-season games. He has appeared in nine games for Portland in 2023-24 for 82 total minutes.

According to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report, it’s “within the realm of possibility” that Brown could still be released despite his contract becoming guaranteed, depending on how long he might be out or if the team needs to cut a player to complete a trade.

In other Blazers roster news, Highkin expects center Duop Reath to have his two-way deal converted to a standard deal at some point in the next two weeks. The Blazers have until January 20 to reach the 14-man roster limit after waiving Skylar Mays and Ish Wainright on Saturday.