Warriors center Damian Jones is out indefinitely after suffering a torn left pectoral muscle, the team announced on Sunday.
He sustained the injury Saturday night against the Pistons and will likely miss the rest of the season after surgery, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Jones, 23, underwent an MRI in Detroit after the game that revealed the injury. He’ll visit a specialist in the coming days to determine whether he can return during the postseason or offseason.
Jones has averaged 5.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 17.1 minutes in 24 games with Golden State this season, starting in 22 contests. The Warriors drafted him with the No. 30 pick in 2016 after he spent three seasons at Vanderbilt.
In the wake of Jones’ injury, Golden State will likely bring up two-way forward Marcus Derrickson and could explore the free agent market for big men, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater (Twitter link).
“We’ll check on our options, see what we want to do,” coach Steve Kerr said, according to Slater.
The Warriors are 15-9 through their first 24 games and now have two healthy centers on the active roster. New acquisition DeMarcus Cousins continues to rehab from Achilles surgery and is expected to return at some point this season.
Worth noting that Jones torn his pectoral muscle his final year at Vanderbilt and had surgery prior to the draft which forced him to miss most of his rookie season.
Not the typical problem area for a big man I think. (Foot, ankle more common.)
It’s the other pec says Kerr, and he was told the surgery makes it stronger somehow. Quite the silver lining!
Andrew Bogut where are you!
Rehabbing a foot injury in Australia