On Thursday, two top rookies have their NBA Summer League campaigns cut short, with Houston Rockets' Jalen Green and Orlando Magic's Jalen Suggs ruled out of the preseason tournament due to injuries.
Jalen Green, the second overall draft pick in last month's draft, failed to finish Houston's 92-76 loss to Toronto in Las Vegas, leaving the game with a sore right hamstring. While sources told ESPN's Tim MacMahon that the Rockets don't believe Green's hamstring injury is a "significant concern," they are not taking any chances with the 19-year-old California native, sending him for an MRI scan as a precaution.
Hamstring injury stalls Green's stellar Summer League campaign
Green has been one of the much-hyped rookies in the NBA in recent years, given his unusual path to basketball's top professional league. He opted to skip college and decided to join the NBA G League Ignite team instead, signing a lucrative one-year deal with the developmental side.
He was excellent in his lone season in the G League bubble, averaging 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per outing while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from deep. Green stole the show in the Ignite's one and only playoff game, exploding for 30 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals in a brilliant all-around performance.
Green has carried that form into the Summer League, making himself one of the standout performers in the preseason tournament. He has scored a total of 61 points in 72 summer league minutes played for the Rockets, shooting 19-of-37 from the field and 10-of-19 from beyond the arc.
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Sprained left thumb ends Suggs' Summer League stint
The injury bug also bit the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League as rookie Jalen Suggs exited their game against the Boston Celtics with a sore left thumb. Suggs recorded six points, two rebounds, and two steals in 11 minutes of action in the Magic's 108-71 loss but left the game early and did not return after landing hard on a strong drive to the basket in the second period.
The Magic are taking the precautionary approach with the fifth overall pick in last month's draft, with Suggs set to miss the remainder of Orlando's Summer League campaign after an MRI confirmed the Minnesota native had suffered a sprained left thumb.
Suggs gave a glimpse of his enormous talent in his Summer League debut, scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds in Orlando's come-from-behind 91-89 overtime win against the Golden State Warriors. The former Gonzaga standout was also a menace on the defensive end in that contest, recording three blocks and two steals.
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