The Charlotte Hornets will be without forward Kelly Oubre Jr. for four to six weeks after he undergoes surgery on his hand. Oubre Jr. has missed three of the team’s last four games due to a torn ligament in his hand and will undergo surgery to fix the issue on Thursday. Injuries have decimated the Hornets this season and this adds another limitation to their lineups for the next few weeks. The team will also be without Gordon Hayward for some amount of time due to a hamstring injury he suffered against the Los Angeles Lakers. His injury at this time is not considered as serious.
Kelly Oubre Jr. will undergo surgery on a torn ligament in his left hand and miss 4-to-6 weeks, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/yOfCEQpIKH
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 3, 2023
This season with the Charlotte Hornets, Kelly Oubre Jr. is averaging 20.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He has paired those numbers with a field goal percentage of 42.1 percent and a three-point percentage of 30.8 percent. Oubre Jr. is a key reserve for the Hornets and a vital member of the rotation. For a team that has struggled to win all season, this is not good news. The Charlotte Hornets are second from the bottom in the Eastern Conference Standings and have the second-worst record in the NBA at 10-28. At this point, the team may want to consider their spot in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery odds.