via @Jonathan_Feigen.
Also via Feigen, Marcus Morris becomes the likely starter while rookie Terrence Jones will be recalled from the D-League.
A few thoughts:
- Regardless of your opinion on Patterson–and he’s a fairly polarizing figure given his rebounding inadequacies–any time you lose a starter, it’s a pretty big loss. That effect is compounded by the fact that he’s a ‘big’ and that this is the youngest roster in all of basketball. ’Bigs’ have more responsibility (defensively) than other players and young teams inherently struggle with defensive cohesion.
- I’m no doctor, but these recurring injuries to Patterson are becoming slightly concerning.
- The silver lining is that Terrence Jones will get his shot. I predict he’ll explode and never look back. I’m basing this on the fact that the Rockets have had a breakout rookie in (seemingly) every year of Daryl Morey’s tenure with the team.
- I do not think this injury holds any consequence in potential trades. Teams know what Patterson is: a relatively dependable ‘big’ with limited upside. He probably had little trade value to begin with; this development does nothing to diminish that.
