Shaedon Sharpe injury history: Complete timeline & recoveries

Shaedon Sharpe is entering a pivotal third season for both himself and the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland has already picked up his $8.4 million fourth-year rookie option for the 2025-26 season. Next year, the Blazers will have to decide on a rookie-scale extension for Sharpe.

As of now, Sharpe's upside remains theoretical as he hasn't been able to see the floor as much as he would have liked, particularly last season. There have been flashes of All-Star upside, but he faces a prove-it year with the Blazers. He needs to play more consistently and piece together aspects of his game to turn that potential into a reality.

Hopefully, he can return from his shoulder injury soon to have a healthy, productive third season and that breakout campaign many are anticipating. When healthy, he's capable of being the best player on the Blazers' roster.

Shaedon Sharpe's major injuries and recovery phases

Major injury No. 1: Left shoulder tear (July 2022)

Sharpe's first significant injury at the NBA level came very early in his career. He suffered a small labral tear in his left shoulder in his first Summer League game against the Detroit Pistons on July 7, shortly after being selected No. 7 overall by the Blazers in the 2022 NBA Draft on June 23. The silver lining was that the injury came in the offseason, and Sharpe was still able to play 80 games during his promising rookie season.

Major injury No. 2: Core muscle (Feb. 2024)

Many expected a breakout sophomore season for Sharpe after his strong finish as a rookie. Unfortunately, he was limited to just 32 games after surgery following a core muscle injury. In that short window, Sharpe's scoring did improve from 9.9 points per game as a rookie to 15.9 points, but his efficiency took a dip, which will be something to monitor when he returns this year.

Major injury No. 3: Left shoulder tear (Oct. 2024)

Sharpe was finally set to return after missing the majority of last season but suffered the same injury he had in his first game of Summer League in 2022—a small labral tear in his left shoulder.

The injury occurred in training camp on October 5. At the time, Sharpe's expected recovery timeline was four to six weeks. Every report surrounding his recovery progress so far has been encouraging.

Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report provided an update regarding Sharpe on October 22: "He's now been cleared for non-contact basketball activities and has been shooting and doing ballhandling drills in practice." According to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian/OregonLive, Sharpe is optimistic that he is on schedule.

Four weeks from October 5 would put Sharpe's return on November 2. Six weeks would be November 16. The Blazers are already off to a 1-3 start to the season and desperately need Sharpe's skillset on the court. But it's essential that they are patient in his recovery, especially since they are a long shot to make the playoffs regardless.

They have a four-game home stretch between November 10-17 that could make sense for the Blazers to bring back Sharpe, but that's just an educated guess in assuming it will be towards the end of the four to six-week timeline and Portland slowly brings back one of the focal points of their rebuild.