Omri Casspi Injures Thumb vs. Rockets in Pelicans Debut

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said forward Omri Casspi suffered a broken right thumb in Thursday's game against the Houston Rockets, per Scott Kushner of The Advocate.

Justin Verrier of ESPN reported Casspi is expected to miss four-to-six weeks.

It was Casspi's first game for the Pelicans after he was sent from the Sacramento Kings as part of the DeMarcus Cousins trade.

This is another setback for Casspi, who missed time with a calf injury earlier in the season.

He entered the league as a first-round pick in 2009 and played 77 games as a rookie but has never appeared in more than 71 contests in a campaign since. Injury issues have helped prevent him from reaching his full potential, although he averaged career-high marks with 27.2 minutes, 11.8 points and 5.9 rebounds a night last season.

He was averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game coming into Thursday's contest.

Fortunately for New Orleans, it still has a number of pieces to shoulder the load without Casspi.

Solomon Hill, E'Twaun Moore and Dante Cunningham can play on the wing, while Cousins and Anthony Davis can shoulder much of the scoring and rebounding load on the blocks.