Orlando Magic's season just turned into a task even harder for the current staff and players from the organization since they will apparently be shorthanded moving forward.
All-Star center Nikola Vucevic was diagnosed with a right lateral ankle sprain and will be re-evaluated in 7-10 days. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the injury should sideline Vucevic for a month.
''It was really painful,'' Vucevic said. ''It was hard for me to put any pressure on [it].''
Vucevic is averaging 17.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season after recording 20.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg and 3.8 apg last season en route to his first All-Star appearance.
Orlando will put their trust in the second year player from Texas, Mo Bamba, so as the third year big man Khem Birch. Even though there's a lot young talent in Orlando, coach Steve Clifford said there's no doubt his team will miss Vucevic.
''When you lose your best player, it's hard to say you have more than enough,'' Clifford said.
If the Center from Montenegro misses more than a month, it’s likely he won’t come back until the flip of the calendar in 2020, which would give him an extra two weeks to recover from his injury.