Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to be evaluated in mid-April
The Oklahoma City Thunder have set the beginning of a timeline to the injury of guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The third-year star will be evaluated in mid-April, head coach Mark Daigneault said on Wednesday prior to the game against the Toronto Raptors.
Depending which day exactly the evaluation takes place, that will be three to four weeks since Gilgeous-Alexander’s last game, which was March 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“He’s progressing and doing his thing and we’ll have more in the middle of the month,” head coach Mark Daigneault said.
Gilgeous-Alexander is out with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Daigneault told media that this was not from a specific play, but instead the result of wear-and-tear throughout the season.
The guard has played a role much larger than either of his first two years. He is averaging 23.7 points, 5.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 54.7% from 2 and 41.8% from 3. He has a usage rate of 28.3.
Including the three games Gilgeous-Alexander has missed with the injury entering Wednesday, he will miss about a dozen games before the evaluation takes place. There is not a guarantee he will return at that point, which would come with about a month of the season remaining and roughly 17 games left to be played.
The Thunder have started Theo Maledon and Svi Mykhailiuk at the guard spots both of the last two games, which both Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort (concussion) missed.
Those two and Kenrich Williams will start at the guard and wing positions on Wednesday against the Raptors.
