Hurt shoulder could sideline Wright 6 months

OAKLAND, Calif. – Golden State Warriors forward Brandan Wright(notes) suffered a left shoulder injury Friday that will require surgery and could keep him out four to six months, an NBA source told Yahoo! Sports.

Wright suffered the injury when a defender slapped his left arm hard during a shot attempt in Friday’s evening practice. An MRI on Sunday confirmed Wright has damage to the capsule in his shoulder and will need surgery.

Wright averaged 8.3 points and four rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game last season, and was having a strong training camp.

“I’ve had better days,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said after Saturday’s practice. “He might be the best player in camp or right up there. He went down and that made it a bad day today. But we wish him the best and hope he has a good result.”

Wright, who turned 22 on Monday, has had a history of left shoulder issues. Despite the injury, the Warriors are expected to exercise his contract option for the 2010-11 season. While Anthony Randolph(notes) is expected to start at power forward, Nelson said Wright had been the better of the two players during training camp.

“We were just so happy with his performance and his improvements,” Nelson said. “We thought he’d really be a factor this year. It’s quite a loss for us.”