Thunder Injury Report: Dort, Muscala Additional Late Scratches for Preseason Opener
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Ahead of their preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder saw a few late scratches to the already known injury report.
Thunder guard Luguentz Dort sustained a concussion during yesterday’s team practice and has been placed in concussion protocol, the team announced on Monday afternoon.
Per the NBA’s concussion policy, Dort will begin NBA-mandated return-to-participation protocol, which includes a series of steps designed to ensure the player shows no concussion signs before returning to play.
Dort will undoubtedly miss Monday’s preseason opener against the Nuggets, and could be in jeopardy of missing more preseason games as well.
While there is no specific timetable for concussion protocol, it’s likely Dort will be able to return to play for Oklahoma City’s regular season opener against the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.
Veteran center Mike Muscala is reportedly not with the team in Denver due to a left ankle sprain. His latest injury is not related to the ankle he had surgery on in early 2022.
Outside of the two late scratches, there’s second overall selection Chet Holmgren, who will miss his entire rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury suffered in an offseason pro-am, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who suffered a grade 2 MCL sprain in non-contact practice.
Down several starters due to injury, the Thunder have a plethora of young, upcoming players who will be eager to step into tarting roles. Rookies Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng and Jaylin Williams will all see plenty of run tonight, and blossoming role players Tre Mann and Aleksej Pokusevski could look to weave their way into the starting five alongside Josh Giddey as well.
Head coach Mark Daigneault has been exploratory in year’s past, and there will be no shortage of players looking to crack the starting lineup.
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