The Portland Trail Blazers continued their hot start to the season with a 132-119 road win Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns. They're now 6-1, but will unfortunately have to overcome more early-season adversity in the form of injuries. Following the win, head coach Micah Nori said that wing Vit Krejci suffered a fracture to his lower left leg.
This is just the latest in a string of early-season injuries piling up in the Blazers' backcourt. First, it was high flyer Shaedon Sharpe who was ruled out for at least six months back in August after undergoing knee surgery. Then it was Ja Morant's Grade 2 hamstring strain suffered just last week, sidelining him for at least a month. Now, it's an injury to Krejci.
Blazers have to depth to overcome these backcourt injuries
These aren't just minor injuries either; they're all extensive, with Krejci now expected to miss most, if not potentially even all of the season. The Blazers haven't given any update yet on an estimated recovery timeline, but it's safe to say it's another long-term injury to this backcourt.
Fortunately, this team is about as well equipped as any to overcome backcourt injuries thanks to their depth. Nori even acknowledged that while it's obviously horrible for Krejci, at least the Blazers didn't resolve their backcourt logjam before the season started. Now they have multiple pieces capable of stepping up, and already do just seven games into the season.
"It's awful for Vit," Nori said, per The Oregonian's Joe Freeman. "But we talked about it this summer, like, 'What are you going to do with all these smalls?' Well, goodness gracious, thank goodness we have them all."
Micah Nori will turn to Chris Youngblood in Krejci's absence
Nori also said Chris Youngblood will step up in Krejci's absence to absorb those minutes as soon as Friday's road matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers, per Jason Quick of The Athletic.
"Had a long talk with Vit in Sacramento about how he was healthy for the first time since being traded to Portland last season. Shoulder and calf injuries hampered his form, but he never talked about it or used it as an excuse. Such a bummer … one of my favorite people on the team," Quick said on X.
For context, Krejci averaged 10.3 minutes per game this season, which now gives two-way signing Chris Youngblood a chance to earn a long-term rotational spot. Youngblood did have a promising game Monday in an impressive win over the Denver Nuggets, where he scored 7 points and was a team-high +22 in just 15 minutes. He's played just 3 games this season but is averaging 8.7 minutes per game, so it's reasonable to expect we'll now see Youngblood more on a nightly basis rather than a significant ramp-up in minutes when he does suit up, as that's not drastically less than Krejci.
In theory, floor spacing would be the biggest downgrade in the lineup, swapping Krejci's role and minutes for Youngblood, who's just a 31.7 percent three-point shooter in his career. However, as Quick pointed out on X, Krejci hasn't been the same shooter ever since his shoulder and calf injuries.
It's unfortunate timing for Portland in terms of their trade with the Atlanta Hawks, as GM Joe Cronin expected to acquire a true sharpshooter to help address their shooting woes on the margins. That hasn't been the case, with Krejci shooting 30.3 percent from deep in Portland last season and just 20.0 percent through seven games before the brutal injury.
Now the Blazers have bigger things to worry about than Krejci's shooting, as his absence will still have a negative effect on Portland, especially given their lack of wing depth.
Nori talked about how it's great they have all these guards able to step up now, and it's not only that but the versatility to be able to fill in at the wing. Guards like Youngblood and Jrue Holiday, who are both listed at 6-foot-4, are ready to play forward minutes behind Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Sidy Cissoko.
It's not ideal by any means, especially this early into the season. But injuries are already piling up around the league, and the Blazers are no exception. At least they could use this roster to their advantage in how they manage injuries and stay afloat, no matter who's out. It's that depth and next-man-up mentality that's contributed to this 6-1 start, and we'll see that continue to be the case with players like Youngblood now stepping up in Krejci's absence.
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