The Portland Trail Blazers will see a few familiar faces tonight (Nov. 21) when they take on the Phoenix Suns. Current center Deandre Ayton will return to The Valley of the Sun, while former big men Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks, along with Nassir Little, will reunite with some former Blazers coaches and teammates.
Portland did more than just reshuffle its frontcourt this offseason, however; the backcourt was reimagined as well, as the Trail Blazers drafted Scoot Henderson and welcomed Malcolm Brogdon via trade.
Both guards – along with Anfernee Simons – have missed a relatively extended period of time with injuries, though, forcing the likes of Skylar Mays and Shaedon Sharpe to do the heavy lifting (and Jerami Grant to do pretty much everything on offense).
Head coach Chauncey Billups recently broke some news regarding the status of two of his three guards, so will Henderson or Brogdon be available tonight in Phoenix?
Billups updates injury return timetables of Scoot Henderson, Malcolm Brogdon
Via Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian/Oregon Live, Chauncey had some positive things to say about both Scoot and last season’s Sixth Man of the Year:
"I think Malcolm is really close. He is closer than any of them. So, any day now with Malcolm. He’s been on the court doing a lot. Scoot’s been ramping it up, too. So, I expect both of those guys hopefully to be back at some point in the next few games, at least."
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as if either guard will be ready in time to face the Suns, but Phoenix is dealing with an injury to one of its own key backcourt pieces, as well.
Full injury report for Blazers vs. Suns
The complete injury report for tonight’s game is as follows:
Portland Trail Blazers
- Out: Scoot Henderson (ankle); Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring); Robert Williams III (knee); Ish Wainright (knee); Anfernee Simons (thumb)
Phoenix Suns:
- Out: Damion Lee (knee); Bradley Beal (back); Yuta Watanabe (quad)