Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green will miss the team’s season opener against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 22 due to a hamstring injury.
Green is slated to be re-evaluated in 10 days, new coach Jordan Ott said Tuesday, meaning he’ll likely miss more games than just the opener. After the game against the Kings, the Suns have three road games in a four-night stretch against the Los Angeles Clippers (Oct. 24), Denver Nuggets (Oct. 25) and Utah Jazz (Oct. 27).
Green was acquired from the Rockets in the offseason megadeal in which Kevin Durant was traded from the Suns to Houston.
Green injured the hamstring early in training camp before aggravating it during a trip to China, where the Suns played two preseason games against the Brooklyn Nets. Green didn’t play in a single exhibition with his new team.
“We all know the soft tissue injuries are really hard to see exactly the progress,” Ott told reporters before Tuesday night’s 113-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. “Obviously it’s frustrating, but this is all part of it. Thankfully, we caught it early, it’s not that serious, but he wants to be out there. New teammates, new system. There’s just other ways. We’re going to have to speed him up. That’s the reality of it. He did a great job in the China trip hanging in there with us.”
The opener will mark Green’s first missed regular-season contest since February 2023. He played in every game over the past two seasons for Houston.
Green, 23, averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists and made a career-high 234 3-pointers last season. The scoring average was his second-highest behind the 22.1 he put up in the 2022-23 season. Overall, he averaged 20.1 points and made 779 treys for the Rockets.
Green was the second overall pick in 2021 and started all 307 games in which he played for the Rockets.
