On January 27, Beijing time, according to The Famous Wuj, Rockets rising star Garuba will undergo surgery for a right wrist injury and is expected to be absent for 6-8 weeks.
2 days ago, the Rockets just recalled him from the development league, the coaching staff wanted to let him participate more in the team's joint training, in order to integrate into the team's system as soon as possible, but unfortunately, because of the serious wrist injury, which has affected his training status, he had to choose surgery. In a recent interview, Silas expressed concern about Garupa's injury, revealing that Garruba's wrist injury was very serious and may require surgery.
Garupa, the Rockets' 2021 first-round 23-pick rookie, is a 19-year-old talented interior from Spain who was once thought to be one of the Rockets' future interior cores. After all, at this age, he is already a star-level player in the Spanish Basketball League and a member of the Spanish national team. Unfortunately, in his first season with the Rockets, he had very few opportunities and did not make it into the Rockets' interior rotation. Compared with Shen Jing, another rising star in the interior who is also from Europe, the situation of the two can be described as very different.
So far this season, Garupa has played only 15 games for the Rockets, averaging 7 minutes per game, 1.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists, shooting 15.4 percent from three-point range. With very little game time with the team, the Rockets once demoted him to the Development League, playing five games with the Vipers in the Valley this season, averaging 25.3 minutes per game, with 9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks, but only a pitiful 11.1% 3-point shooting rate!
It can be said that Garupa's performance in the development league is more comprehensive, but not brilliant, but his talent on the defensive end is still visible to the naked eye, and he shows a certain basketball IQ. And the rocket recalled him this time, originally hoping to give him some chances.
The Rockets' current No. 5 position is mainly composed of Wood and Shin Kyung, Theiss is almost abandoned, if Garuba is not injured, he may be the third choice for the team's No. 5 position, get a certain amount of playing time, if he can perform, the Rockets may send Wood more decisively before the trade deadline, but with Garuba injured, I am afraid that the trade plan for Wood will also be shaken, unless there is an offer that is difficult to refuse. But this surgery will have to get Garupa away from the game for nearly 2 months. Whether he can get a chance and play a good performance after 2 months of comeback is still unknown.
When he was first selected by the Rockets, Garupa and Real Madrid still had a few years of contract, in order to be able to successfully go to the NBA to pursue their dreams, Garruba did not hesitate to pay 3 million euros to buy out the contract, the purpose is to go to a higher stage to learn and prove himself, but now, he not only gets few opportunities to play, but also injured at this key node for surgery, which is not only a heavy blow, but also makes his future more unpredictable.