Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley on Tuesday said there is no timetable for rookie Jalen Suggs to return from a right ankle bone bruise.
Suggs suffered the injury on March 13 versus the Philadelphia 76ers and has missed the past four games for the Magic. He was hobbled throughout that contest and was eventually ruled out of returning to play after logging 22 minutes.
The fifth pick previously battled through a sprained right ankle for much of early March after initially injuring it on March 4 against the Toronto Raptors. He missed two games but was cleared and played in the next three games before bruising it versus the Sixers.
Mosley said Suggs did some work in shootaround on Tuesday.
He got on the court today a little bit, just no contact stuff. He has not practiced with us but moving forward (we will) just continue to see how he responds to a little bit more and more as we ramp him up.
Suggs will travel with the Magic to Oklahoma City on Tuesday but will likely not play. Suggs told Mosley that he wants to travel and be around the team as much as possible over the final nine games of the season while recovering from the injury.
He could play again this season but the Magic will not rush him back.
I think, for that young man, playing is the thing he loves to do the most; being around his teammates is what he loves to do the most in these situations. We’ll focus on his health which is, obviously, the biggest thing and if he is healthy to go then we’ll have him out on there on the court ready to play.
The Magic have often been cautious with injuries and will not rush Suggs back into action too quickly. He has been sidelined over 20 games this season due to various injuries so the team will work to ensure he is fully healthy before clearing him to play again.
Suggs, in 46 games, is averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals this season. He ranks eighth in scoring among all first-year players and third in assists.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[lawrence-related id=73550,49107,48473]
[mm-video type=video id=01fystgf1asgbac2fcjw playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fystgf1asgbac2fcjw/01fystgf1asgbac2fcjw-047888f6c1719f847283ec73a995a15b.jpg]
[listicle id=73494]