Rui Hachimura, the projected starting power forward for the Wizards this season, will miss the start of training camp due to personal reasons, the team announced Saturday.
This is an excused absence from the team, and there is no timeline for his return. He is out indefinitely.
Hachimura has had a string of bad luck — getting kicked in the groin by a teammate, COVID-19, conjunctivitis that caused him to miss the start of last season — which has caused him to miss 27% of the Wizards games over his first two seasons.
Last season, Hachimura averaged 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. This summer, he played for host Japan in the Tokyo Olympics (the Wizards are hoping for a little post-Olympics bounce and boost in confidence in his game).
This likely will mean more time at the four for Kyle Kuzma, who was acquired this summer, and possibly Deni Avdija, but he is coming off a fractured right fibula last April, and he will be eased back into the rotation.