What’s next for Trail Blazers?

It has been a tough few weeks for Blazers fans. Jusuf Nurkic will be gone for at least eight weeks with a broken wrist and the news was released Monday night that CJ McCollum would be gone for about four weeks with a broken foot.

For a team with pre-season ambitions for a playoff race, these two injuries are a devastating blow. Especially considering how well McCollum had played earlier in the season.

Can the rest of the squad hold the fort?

Unfortunately, the Blazers’ problems this season are deeper than the injuries of McCollum and Nurkic. Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. did not prove to be definitive updates on Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless. Rodney Hood has been struggling to recover from an enlarged Achilles tendon. Anfernee Simons did not look like a rotating player, let alone a reserve guard ready to fill the gap left by CJ’s absence. The team’s defense looks, well, horrible. And Zach Collins is unlikely to make a significant contribution this season after suffering his own injury.

Outside of Enes Kanter (and CJ, of course), it is reasonable to ask if anyone in the squad exceeded pre-season expectations. And now that same list will be called upon to try to fill the huge gaps left by McCollum and Nurkic in the coming weeks. Even the most diehard fan would forgive a little pessimism at this point.

What is the most likely outcome here?

Usually, most of these hiccups from the beginning of the season can be overcome. In fact, there have already been signs of life; Lillard just won the player of the week, Hood played well for the first time this season and Jones’ track and field is starting to pay dividends.

But unfortunately, the whole team will now have to work harder than expected in the next 20 games. Lillard will have to play out of his mind to keep the team afloat, which has historically resulted in some overuse injuries:

Damian Lillard has had his fair share of persistent injuries throughout his career. Examples include: a groin injury and a sprained knee last season, a hamstring strain during the 2017-18 season, persistent plantar fasciitis during the 2015-16 season, at least a few fingers stuck, etc.

Blazers will likely be able to stay afloat and win enough games to enter a series of playoffs as a low seed and serious losers.

Of course, we’ve seen this before in playoff clashes with Warriors and Lakers (and Pelicans?) In recent years. It is not particularly fun. But it is the likely reality for the 2020-21 season.

A good side?

Just to end on a positive note, I will point out that the Blazers have been bitten by a snake in the past two years, but have had decent success due to injuries in the post-Aldridge era. Fortunately, the current discussion of injuries is not indicative of systemic problems, but just bad luck.