Wizards’ Malcolm Brogdon Expected To Miss At Least Month With Hand Injury

Veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon expressed excitement over playing for the Wizards after an offseason NBA trade with the Trail Blazers.

Well, it appears that excitement is on hold.

Per Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Brogdon is expected to miss about a month (or more) after suffering a right hand injury at practice over the weekend.

“Brogdon’s absence likely will force (Bub Carrington) and fellow rookie Kyshawn George into larger roles, too,” Robbins wrote.

Washington was hoping the likes of Brogdon and center Jonas Valanciunas would help steady an otherwise young ship. Adding those two to forward Kyle Kuzma and others could help the Wizards not only stay competitive in games, but steal some wins.

“It’s going to be a long season,” Brogdon predicted at media day. “We’re not the most talented team in the league. We have talent and we’re going to win some games, but we’re also going to develop these young guys.”

Brogdon averaged 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 0.7 steals for the Blazers last season, shooting 44.0% from the field, 41.2% on 3-pointers and 81.9% from the free-throw line. He is set to make $22.5 million this season in the final year of his contract. 

The Wizards finished 15-67 season, and you’d think they could at least do better than that this year. The franchise hasn’t reached 50 wins in a season since 1979, the last time it made it to the NBA Finals.

Washington isn’t likely to reach that milestone this season, either. But again, at least there is some buzz, as well as some reasons for hope for the future.