Rui Hachimura to miss three weeks with eye injury

Wizards forward Rui Hachimura will miss the next three weeks with an eye injury, Washington announced Monday. 

Hachimura was diagnosed with “bi-lateral epidemic keratoconjunctivitis,” a form of pink eye, on Dec. 16 that caused him to miss the Wizards’ last two preseason games. Now, Hachimura will miss additional time as he looks to recover.

 Hachimura’s absence figures to be a blow to Washington, which begins the season Wednesday in Philadelphia. The 22-year-old is coming off a promising rookie year in which he averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

In recent weeks, coaches and teammates touted Hachimura’s improvement from beyond the arc, saying the Japanese native looked more comfortable shooting 3-pointers. 

Now, the Wizards will have to get by without him. The team started Moe Wagner and then Anthony Gill at power forward in the two preseason games that Hachimura missed. Washington also re-signed sharpshooter Davis Bertans to a five-year, $80 million deal this offseason, though the team likes to keep him in a sixth-man role.