Charlotte Hornets: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Injures Shoulder

The Charlotte Hornets preseason took a dark turn late in the first half of Saturday night’s preseason opener against the Orlando Magic when Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went down with a shoulder injury.

According to ESPN.com, X-rays were negative but revealed Kidd-Gilchrist had a dislocation of his right shoulder.

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The fourth-year forward signed a four-year, $52 million extension with the Hornets in August. According to the report, Kidd-Gilchrist will remain in Orlando and will miss Sunday’s preseason game against the Miami Heat.

Injury Update: @hornets MKG will be further evaluated by @hornets physicians in Charlotte on Mon. Update will be provided when available.
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) October 4, 2015

He was hurt curling off a screen after being fouled on the play by Orlando’s Tobias Harris.

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While there is no definitive prognosis for Kidd-Gilchrist at this point, it is likely he will miss at least the start of the regular season.

The concern with a shoulder dislocation is that in many cases the labrum is torn, a ligament injury that often requires surgery, according to the Orlando Orthopaedic Center.

If he is forced to miss significant regular-season time, it would be the third consecutive season Kidd-Gilchrist has done so.

He missed 19 games in 2013-14 with a fractured hand and in 2014-15 he was out 27 games due to a stress reaction in his foot, a hamstring injury and an ankle injury.

He is an important cog for the Hornets. In 2013-14, Charlotte was just 6-13 while he was out with the hand injury and went 36-26 with him in the lineup (he missed one other game that Charlotte won).

Last season, the Hornets were 27-28 when Kidd-Gilchrist played and 6-21 without him.

He averaged a career-high 10.9 points per game last season to go with 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, shooting .465/—/.701 and posted a career-best Player Efficiency Rating of 15.1.

Kidd-Gilchrist was the second overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Kentucky, behind college teammate Anthony Davis, and has started 191 of his 195 career games.

His calling card is defense. He had a Defensive Rating last season of 96.3 (points allowed per 100 possessions) and had the best Net Rating on the club at plus-3.1.

Kidd-Gilchrist’s impact on the Hornets can’t be understated. Charlotte had that plus-3.1 Net Rating when MKG was on the floor and played to a minus-7.7 Net Rating when he was off, as their D-rating soared to 104.1 when he was on the bench or out of the lineup.

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In 13 minutes Saturday night, Kidd-Gilchrist was 2-for-4, including 0-for-1 from 3-point range (one more 3-pointer than he attempted all of last season), and had a rebound and an assist.

Jeremy Lamb started the second half in MKG’s place, with Nicolas Batum starting at guard next to Kemba Walker.

It was a small lineup for the Hornets on Saturday night, with center Al Jefferson flanked up front up Marvin Williams, a small forward playing a stretch-4 role, and MKG.

It was a pair of newcomers, Lamb and Jeremy Lin, who had the most playing time for the Hornets on Saturday, each logging 25 minutes. Lin had a team-high 17 points and dished seven assists, while Lamb had 16 points.

Charlotte, the worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA last season at 31.8 percent, was 12-for-31 Saturday night, a 38.7 percent success rate.

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