Trail Blazers: An Update on Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, and Skal Labissiere

By Ryan Mandel | Jan 13, 2020

PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 25: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during their game at Moda Center on March 25, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

After days of not hearing anything regarding Skal Labissiere’s recent knee injury, the team finally announced last Wednesday that Skal suffered a left knee articular cartilage lesion, and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. The original MRI done after the December 28th game came back inconclusive, so the team had to wait until the swelling went down to get a better look at the damage.

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This can be seen as good or bad news, depending on how you look at it. It sucks to be without Skal for another month, but those who saw the way he was holding his knee after the non-contact injury know that this news is probably much better than expected.

If the Blazers can get things back on track and feel like Jusuf Nurkic’s return is making a big enough impact for them to make a push, I’d expect Skal to be back sometime in February. However, if the team is still struggling the way that they are now, I wouldn’t expect the team to rush Skal back anytime soon. I’d much rather he take things slowly and get back to full strength than turn this into a nagging injury.

Despite all of the injuries and losses that the Blazers have suffered this season, the team is still setting themselves up for success down the road.