After he has surgery to repair a fracture in his left hand this week, Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul is expected to miss four to six weeks, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Paul, who injured his hand in a Friday night victory over the Detroit Pistons, has the start of an eight-day All-Star break looming in five weeks to soften the blow of lost games in the season's timeline.
In his 19 seasons, Paul has had five surgeries to his left hand and six to his right. His departure comes after Draymond Green's suspension ends. Green is expected to return to game action sometime next week, sources said.
In the absence of Paul, rookie guard Brandin Podziemski is expected to play a bigger role in the Warriors' rotation. The Warriors are 17-18 and in 10th place in the Western Conference.
Paul is averaging 8.9 points and 7.2 assists in 27.6 minutes per game this season. Paul came to the Warriors in a trade with the Washington Wizards this summer, where he had been briefly after Phoenix moved him as part of the Bradley Beal trade.
