Hornets' Cody Zeller Reportedly to Miss 4-6 Weeks After Surgery on Hand Injury

The Charlotte Hornets couldn't overcome the Cleveland Cavaliers in Wednesday's opening night loss after center Cody Zeller fractured his left hand after just 19 minutes, and they'll reportedly need to figure out a long-term game plan to win without him.

Zeller is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after he had surgery to fix his hand on Thursday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The center tallied six points, three rebounds and three steals in his debut before he went down.

Zeller is the longest-tenured player on the team, which drafted him out of Indiana with the No. 4 pick in 2013.

After he was limited by a knee injury in the 2017-18 season, appearing in a career-low 33 games, he rebounded over the next two years. After starting 47 of 49 appearances in 2018-19, he played in 58 games last season, when he posted a career-high 11.1 points on 52.4 percent shooting from the field, with 7.1 rebounds in 23.1 minutes.

The 28-year-old broke his right hand in 2018.

With Zeller sidelined, Charlotte will look to Bismack Biyombo, who played 24 minutes against Cleveland and had 11 points and four rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting. But if Biyombo doesn't prove to be a dependable option, the team could sign a free agent, with ESPN's Bobby Marks reporting that the club has an open roster spot.

Veteran Tyson Chandler, who would be entering his 20th season in the league, told reporters ahead of the restart in Orlando that he was undecided on his plans to retire, but he hasn't found a home since his contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the year.

He only saw 8.4 minutes per game through 26 outings with the Rockets last year, but he logged 16.4 minutes and 3.1 points per game through 48 games with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018-19.