Ouch.
Brandan Wright was going to get some minutes in Dallas — Samuel Dalembert is penciled in as the starting center but he is out of shape and not a guy you give 30 minutes a night to anyway. After that you have Bernard James or you go small (DeJuan Blair).
But Wright is out indefinitely after fracturing his shoulder, the Mavericks announced. This is a “small, non-displaced fracture to his left shoulder” the team announced and added that it will not require surgery to repair. However, he will be checked weekly and could be out for a while.
The injury happened in practice Tuesday, according to the team.
Wright has actually played well and efficiently when he has gotten on the court the past couple seasons — it seemed to take a while for Rick Carlisle to trust and figure out how to use Wright’s game (he’s not a traditional center, you can’t just throw him the ball on the block, but he scores efficiently and moves well). After a strong end to last season when the Mavericks got on a role Wright signed a two-year, $10 million deal to come back to Dallas.
When he gets back he has minutes waiting for him — if he can stay healthy. This has been a career-long issue (or series of issues).