After undergoing additional testing on the left leg injury he sustained on Friday vs. the Clippers, Hornets wing Josh Okogie has been diagnosed with a hamstring strain, the team announced today in a press release.
According to the Hornets, Okogie will be reevaluated in three weeks, with additional updates on his status provided as appropriate.
Okogie suffered the injury in the third quarter after stealing the ball from Clippers guard James Harden and converting a fast-break layup (Twitter video link). He ended up on the floor and was very slow to get up, then was subbed out of the game after converting his and-one free throw.
Okogie, who was traded from Phoenix to Charlotte in last month’s Nick Richards deal, had earned a major role off the bench in Charlotte and was playing his best basketball of the season for his new team.
The 26-year-old swingman averaged 10.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.7 steals in 21.2 minutes per game across seven outings as a Hornet, recording a solid shooting line of .434/.391/.789. He also had a very impressive +16.3 net rating — Charlotte outscored its opponents by 47 points when he was on the court, despite going 2-5 and being outscored by 15 points overall during those seven games.
There had been some speculation that the Hornets might look to flip Okogie for more assets prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, but this injury significantly reduces the odds of that.
Trade was a win-win for both teams
Okogie is better than Josh Green at half the price
Yeah, but Okogie is still going to be who he is. And that’s a guy who’s a pretty good player that plays a half to 3/4 of the season. Do you really want to count on a guy like that as a major contributor going forward?
In many ways, the best ability is availability.