Golden State Warriors forward Moses Moody underwent a successful surgery to repair a torn Ulnar Collateral ligament (UCL) in his right thumb, the team announced on Thursday.
The news came as a surprise to many, as Moody’s thumb injury wasn’t reported earlier. He appeared in all 12 Warriors games in the playoffs, though he struggled and saw his role reduced as they went to a deeper run.
According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Moody “had a wrap on it at times late in the season.”
Moody is expected to make a full recovery and return in time for the training camp in October, the Warriors’ medical bulletin added.
The Warriors were 27-7 when Moody was in the starting lineup. But like any young player, the 22-year-old forward was inconsistent in the playoffs. His scoring dipped in the postseason to 7.1 points on 35% field goal shooting and 33% from the 3-point line from a career-high 9.8 points on 43% field goal shooting and 37% from the 3-point line in the regular season.
Buddy Hield eventually supplanted Moody in the Warriors’ starting lineup in the playoffs. But Moody had his moments in the postseason, like when he dropped a playoff career-high 25 points in a Game 5 loss to the Houston Rockets in the first round. He ended his first significant playoff run with a bang, scoring 12 points in 12 minutes in the Warriors’ Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round.
Moody scored in double figures in four of the Warriors’ 12 playoff games. He is under one of the best value contracts in the NBA today — $37.5 million over the next three years, making him a bargain solid rotation piece for the Warriors in the foreseeable future.
Derrick White as No. 3 Option?
GettyCeltics guard Derrick White reacts after making a 3-pointer.
According to The Ringer’s Logan Murdock, the Warriors have their eyes on Boston Celtics guard Derrick White. The Oakland native dropped the intel when he appeared on “The Zach Lowe Show” on May 16.
“Another guy that I think you should look at for the Warriors going forward is Derrick White,” Murdock said. “A guy like that I think, is something that the Warriors are looking at right now because Boston is expected in league circles to have some sort of fire sale or some sort of maybe reset… Just somebody that can play defense and kind of just settle everyone down. Especially when you have a young group like that, you need to settle them down in the non-Steph [Curry] minutes, so that’s something to figure out.”
And it’s not hard to see why. White has a championship pedigree and he has a mutual connection with Kerr — Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs — which makes him a seamless fit.
The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 20.2 points in their second-round loss to the New York Knicks. He finished the playoffs as Boston’s third-best scorer, averaging 18.8 points, behind Tatum (28.1 points) and Jaylen Brown (22.1), and was also one of their top perimeter defenders.
If the Warriors are successful in acquiring White, Moody could enter next season playing off the bench.
Warriors Will be ‘Incredibly Aggressive’ in Trade Market
After they fell short in the playoffs, no thanks to Stephen Curry‘s hamstring injury, the Warriors are going all-in in this offseason to augment their solid core, ESPN’s Shams Charania recently reported.
“The Golden State Warriors have up to four first-round picks they can trade,” Charania said on “SportsCenter” on May 15. “They have tradeable contracts, pick swaps as well. Sources told me in the last few hours, the Warriors will be incredibly aggressive in the marketplace to go find help, to continue to retool around their big three of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.
“I’m told their priority is finding a play-making wing defender or a center to add to this group. A lot of it will come down to someone that Steve Kerr and the big feel like will help this team and fit their culture and their identity.”
The Warriors have up to four first-round picks at their disposal to use to add a significant piece this summer.
