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T.J. Warren Injury: Fractured Thumb For Suns Rookie

By Gerald Bourguet

Sep 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward T.J. Warren poses for a portrait during media day at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward T.J. Warren poses for a portrait during media day at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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The good news? Alex Len played in his first preseason game Wednesday night after re-fracturing his pinky in training camp. The bad news? Hands down, the Phoenix Suns seem to be having some worst luck with their players’ fingers and hands. After T.J. Warren suffered an injury in Tuesday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team found out Wednesday that he had a fractured left thumb.

This is the third hand-related injury incident for the Suns this summer, as Anthony Tolliver also needed stitches for a gash in his hand. Tolliver’s perfectly fine now and has played in Phoenix’s last four preseason games, but it appears the Suns’ promising young rookie is now out indefinitely, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

Warren’s first injury setback of his young NBA career doesn’t affect Jeff Hornacek‘s rotation too much, but it is a bit of a bummer considering his potential as instant offense off the bench. Taken with the No. 14 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Warren had a strong Summer League debut. In the three games he played significant minutes, Warren averaged 25.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 59 percent from the floor.

After averaging 24.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game in his final season at North Carolina State, Warren’s ability to put up points in a hurry was abundantly clear. He wasn’t soaking up minutes in the preseason, but he had played in every single game until Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers, and was averaging 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game while shooting an efficient 50 percent from the floor.

With Warren sidelined, Archie Goodwin might get an opportunity to play more minutes in Phoenix’s last preseason game against the Utah Jazz on Friday. Between P.J. Tucker, Marcus Morris and even Gerald Green, minutes at small forward were always going to be scarce for the rookie Warren, but with Tucker suspended for the first three games of the season because of his super extreme DUI back in May, Warren would’ve had a chance at some early regular season playing time.

Warren’s thumb will be treated with a splint and rest, per the Phoenix Suns. Since there’s no timetable for his return, it looks like the life of a rookie just got a little bit harder for T.J. Warren.

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