Kings center Drew Eubanks has an avulsion fracture in his left thumb and will be reevaluated in three weeks, according to Sean Cunningham of KCRA News in Sacramento (Twitter link).
The injury occurred during Thursday’s loss to Denver, as Eubanks was forced to leave the game after playing just four minutes. He underwent an MRI on Saturday that revealed the damage.
Eubanks was inserted into the starting lineup after center Domantas Sabonis was sidelined with a torn meniscus in mid-November. However, rookie big man Maxime Raynaud has been more productive lately and has taken over that role in the past three games, averaging 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds during that stretch.
Eubanks, 28, is in his first season with the Kings after signing a one-year, minimum-salary contract over the summer. He has appeared in 25 games, making 11 starts and averaging 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per night while shooting 61.5% from the field.
Sacramento is the sixth team in eight seasons for Eubanks, who was traded from the Jazz to the Clippers at last year’s deadline. He became a free agent when L.A, waived him in July to avoid paying his $4.5MM non-guaranteed salary.
With Eubanks out of action until at least January, Precious Achiuwa and Dario Saric could see an increase in playing time until Sabonis returns.