This is one of those “Welp” moments.
After injuring his left thumb against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, LaMarcus Aldridge is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks, per an announcement made by the Portland Trail Blazers:
MRI confirms Portland F LaMarcus Aldridge has a radial collateral ligament tear in left thumb. He will undergo surgery; out for 6-8 weeks.
— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) January 23, 2015
Surgery hadn’t been scheduled as of this writing, but you have to imagine it’ll be soon. And assuming it’s soon, Aldridge is going to miss between 24 and 26 games, possibly more.
Oh, and to top this crappy sundae off, Nicolas Batum injured his wrist in Portland’s loss to the Boston Celtics. He left the game and would not return. Afterward, he was seen wearing a brace, per The Oregonian‘s Jason Quick:
Doesn't sound good re: Batum right wrist. Aggravation of old injury. Some swelling. Wearing brace.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 23, 2015
There’s never an ideal time for injuries, but the Blazers are especially hobbled at the moment. Joel Freeland and Robin Lopez are already watching from the sidelines, so their frontcourt rotation is basically depleted.
Somewhat surprisingly, though, they’re built to withstand these losses up front. Not Batum’s obviously. The small forward position is thin, and Dorell Wright hasn’t been giving them much. Then again, save for a 27-point outing against the Suns, neither has Batum.
But at the 4 and 5 spots, the Blazers do have Meyers Leonard, Chris Kaman and Thomas Robinson to lean on. Those three don’t come close to replacing the Aldridge-Lopez combo, but a bulk of the necessary skill sets are there.
Kaman has some range on the offense end and will grab rebounds, sort of like Aldridge. Leonard has the three-point range of Aldridge, and the rim-protecting chops of Lopez. Robinson is that explosive floor-runner you let loose when you’re looking for endless energy.
Still, the offense is going to suffer. The Blazers registered their worst shooting performance of the season against the Celtics, and Aldridge was the team’s leading score. For them to survive this stretch without Aldridge—and potentially Batum—they’ll need a crap ton of Damian Lillard on Damian Lillard on Damian Lillard.
Even then, it’s unlikely they maintain their current positioning. They held the West’s second-best record heading into Thursday and have since slipped to third. The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets are nipping at their heels, so expect them to fall even lower.
On the bright side, they have an eight-game cushion over the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s an insurmountable deficit with only 40 games left to play, so the Blazers are fine. They will win their division, secure home-court advantage through the first round, bide their time until Aldridge and Co. are healthy, then go from there.
Where exactly they’ll go, we don’t know. But at least their season isn’t totally ruined by failing health.
