Shaedon Sharpe Has Stress Fracture, Could Miss Rest Of Season
Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe has a stress fracture in his left fibula, Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report tweets. He’ll be reevaluated in approximately 4-to-6 weeks, according to the team, to allow for adequate healing before beginning a progressive return to full basketball activity.
Sharpe hasn’t played since February 6 due to what was originally diagnosed as a left calf strain. The fibula fracture was discovered after follow-up imaging.
Given the timeline provided by the team, it seems likely that Sharpe will miss the remainder of the season. The 2022 lottery pick is averaging a career-high 21.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 30 minutes per game while appearing in 48 contests (42 starts). He’s the team’s second-leading scorer.
Sharpe signed a four-year, $90MM rookie scale extension in October, which kicks in next season.
The loss of Sharpe is a blow to a Portland team that’s currently in ninth place in the West with a 29-30 record. It’s unlikely the Blazers will fall out of the play-in tournament, considering the teams sitting in the bottom five of the conference trail them by at least six games, but the organization may not have Sharpe available this spring as it looks to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
Blazers’ Thybulle, Murray Nearing Returns; Sharpe Still Out
Trail Blazers wings Matisse Thybulle and Kris Murray were both full participants in practices on Wednesday and Thursday, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.
“They’ve had two intense days here,” interim head coach Tiago Splitter said Thursday at the Blazers’ practice facility in Tualatin. “We’ll see how (they feel) tomorrow.”
Both players are officially questionable for Friday’s contest against Denver (Twitter link).
A two-time All-Defensive selection, Thybulle has been plagued by injuries the past two seasons. He was limited to just 15 appearances in 2024/25 due to knee and ankle issues, and has only played four games thus far in ’25/26, last suiting up on October 29.
The 28-year-old guard/forward underwent thumb surgery on Oct. 31, which was expected to sideline him for at least four-to-six weeks. After that injury healed, he has been plagued by right knee tendinopathy.
Largely due to his limited availability, there has been speculation that Thybulle could be a buyout candidate, but that seems fairly unlikely now that he’s healthy.
Third-year forward Murray, meanwhile, has missed Portland’s last 19 games due to a lumbar strain in his lower back. He last played on Jan. 5.
As Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report tweets, the Blazers have relied heavily on Sidy Cissoko, who is no longer eligible to play after reaching his 50-game active limit, and Caleb Love, who has five games left. While it’s possible one or both of those two-way standouts could be promoted before the season ends, the team likely doesn’t feel any urgency to do so now with Thybulle and Murray on the verge of returning, Highkin notes.
Although Portland’s roster is as healthy as it has been in months, starting shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe remains out with a left calf strain and his return doesn’t appear imminent, per Freeman. The team’s second-leading scorer suffered the injury on Feb. 6 and missed the final four games before the All-Star break.
“He didn’t practice,” Splitter said. “We’re still evaluating how long he’s going to be out, but for the near future, he’s going to be out for a little bit.”
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Henderson, Sharpe, Jazz
Injuries have been an issue all season long for the Nuggets, who are currently missing forward Aaron Gordon and swingman Peyton Watson, but the health-related news on Saturday was mostly positive. As Bennett Durando of The Denver Post details (subscription required), wing Cameron Johnson – who had been out since December 23 due to a bone bruise in his knee – returned and was effective vs. Chicago, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Star center Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, was listed as questionable to play on Saturday due to a mildly sprained ankle, but he suited up and dominated, racking up 22 points, 17 assists, and 14 rebounds — Denver outscored the Bulls by 36 points during Jokic’s 33 minutes on the floor en route to a 136-120 victory.
First-time All-Star Jamal Murray, who has been the Nuggets’ healthiest starter this season, exited to the locker room with about four minutes left in the game due to a hip issue, but he returned to the bench before the final whistle and didn’t seem concerned after the game about the apparent injury.
“He seemed confident that he was OK,” head coach David Adelman said, per Durando (Twitter link).
Finally, while two-way player Spencer Jones isn’t injured, he was inactive on Saturday for a second time in the past three games after having reached his 50-game limit. As Durando writes within an interesting profile of Jones for The Denver Post (subscription required), the team is preparing to move the second-year forward into one the two open spots on its 15-man roster, though it’s unclear when exactly that will happen.
Denver plays twice before the All-Star break – Monday vs. Cleveland and Wednesday vs. Memphis – and will need to promote Jones to a standard contract if it wants him available for those games.
We have more from around the Northwest:
- Making his season debut on Friday after recovering from a torn hamstring, Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson had 11 points and nine assists in 21 minutes as the team snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory over Memphis. Teammate Jerami Grant said Henderson played “amazing” following his lengthy layoff, per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Interim head coach Tiago Splitter wasn’t quite as effusive with his praise, but suggested he was very encouraged by the third-year guard’s performance. “He was impressive on defense,” Splitter said, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. “He brought energy, he pushed the pace, made some shots. Still was room for improvement, but just good to see him competing.”
- As the Trail Blazers got one guard back, they lost another to an injury. Shaedon Sharpe exited Friday’s win due to calf soreness and didn’t play on Saturday. Still, as Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report points out (via Twitter), there are a couple encouraging signs on Sharpe — he’s listed as having “soreness” rather than a strain, and the injury is to his left calf, not the right one, which he strained earlier in the season. That right calf injury cost him four games in November.
- Walker Kessler is out for the rest of the season and will enter restricted free agency this summer, so there’s no guarantee that he, Lauri Markkanen, and Jaren Jackson Jr. will ever share the court together for the Jazz. But that’s certainly the plan in Utah — head coach Will Hardy tells Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune that he’s excited about the size, rebounding, and rim-protecting ability of his new frontcourt trio and that he’s confident they’ll fit together offensively too. “We’ve played with Lauri as the quote-unquote ‘three’ before during my time here, and Jaren is a really talented player,” Hardy said. “I think it’s going to be good to get him in the building and around the team so that we can become and I can become more familiar with what his capabilities really are. You have all these preconceived notions of players when you coach against them, but they’re being asked to play within some type of a system wherever they are, and so it’ll be fun to explore those things with him and make him a part of the conversation in terms of what he thinks he can offer.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Bam Adebayo Named Players Of Week
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Heat big man Bam Adebayo have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, the NBA announced today (Twitter links).
Oklahoma City had a 2-1 record during the week of January 12-18, with the reigning Most Valuable Player averaging 31.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. Gilgeous-Alexander posted a shooting line of .547/.400/.912 as the Thunder outscored opponents by 43 points during his 103 minutes on the court.
Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the first NBA player to be named the Player of the Week for the third time this season — he also earned the honor twice in November.
As for Adebayo, he posted averages of 27.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per night while shooting 65.5% from long range as the Heat won two of three games. This is the third time he has earned the award and first time since January 2024.
Donovan Clingan and Shaedon Sharpe (Trail Blazers), DeMar DeRozan (Kings), Luka Dončić (Lakers), James Harden (Clippers), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Alperen Sengun (Rockets) and Victor Wembanyama (Spurs) were also nominated for the Western Conference Player of the Week award, per the NBA.
Brandon Miller (Hornets), Norman Powell (Heat), Pascal Siakam (Pacers), Anfernee Simons (Celtics), Jaylon Tyson (Cavaliers) and Nikola Vučević (Bulls) were the other Eastern Conference nominees.
Jalen Brunson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Win Player Of The Month Awards
A pair of star point guards and MVP candidates have been named the NBA’s Players of the Month for December, with Jalen Brunson of the Knicks winning the award in the East and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder claiming it in the West, per the league (Twitter link).
Brunson was named Player of the Week twice in December and led the Knicks to an NBA Cup championship. He averaged 30.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per contest in 13 December outings, posting a strong shooting line of .475/.405/.826 and leading his team to a 10-3 record in the games he played.
Those stats don’t include the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count toward the regular season, but he was excellent in that game too, racking up 25 points and eight assists as the Knicks toppled the Spurs.
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, continued to strengthen his case for a second consecutive Most Valuable Player award in 12 December appearances, with averages of 31.4 points, 6.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, and a scorching-hot .594/.436/.882 shooting line.
Gilgeous-Alexander now ranks second in the NBA in scoring (32.1 PPG), while his Thunder – following a 9-4 December – hold the league’s best record at 29-5.
It’s the third time Brunson has won a Player of the Month award and the fifth time Gilgeous-Alexander has earned the honor. Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were the NBA’s first Players of the Month this season, for games played in October and November.
Cunningham was also nominated for the Eastern Conference award in December, along with Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram, Hawks forward, Jalen Johnson, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Nets forward Michael Porter Jr., and Brunson’s teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, according to the NBA (Twitter link).
The other Western Conference nominees were Jokic, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Rockets forward Kevin Durant, Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, Jazz guard Keyonte George, Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, Trail Blazers teammates Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe, Timberwolves teammates Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, and Lakers teammates Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves.
Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Brunson Named Players Of Week
Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. and Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson were named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the NBA (Twitter links).
This marks the second career Player of the Week award for Jackson, who averaged 27.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.7 blocks in 32.7 minutes per game and led Memphis to a 2-1 record during the week of December 15-21.
Jackson recorded a season-high 31 points and five blocks in the Grizzlies’ 121-103 road win last Monday against the Clippers and followed that with 28 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and three blocks in Memphis’ 116-110 road victory on Wednesday against Minnesota.
Brunson racked up 31.3 points, 8.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game as the Knicks went 2-1 after their NBA Cup triumph. He had 47 points in the Knicks’ 132-125 win over Miami on Sunday.
It’s the second major individual award for Brunson over the past week. He was also named the MVP of the NBA Cup. He also becomes the first two-time Eastern Conference Player of the Week this season, having also earned the honor on December 1.
Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe (Trail Blazers), Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves), Keyonte George (Jazz), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) and Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) were the other nominees for the Western Conference Player of the Week award.
Cade Cunningham (Pistons), Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic (Bulls), Kon Knueppel (Hornets), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers) and Derrick White (Celtics) were the other nominees in the East.
Blazers Announce Injury Updates On Henderson, Holiday
While third-year guard Scoot Henderson has made progress in his recovery from a torn left hamstring, he will be sidelined for at least two-to-four more weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release.
The update on the former No. 3 overall pick was expected, as Henderson recently told Jason Quick of The Athletic that his return wasn’t imminent and his return to basketball activities was considered “week to week.” The 21-year-old point guard initially sustained the injury in late September during a workout before training camp.
Veteran guard Jrue Holiday, who was initially questionable for Friday’s contest at Golden State prior to being ruled out for his fourth straight game (Twitter link), will miss at least one more week with a right calf strain. According to the Blazers, the two-time All-Star will be checked out again in one-to-two weeks.
Holiday, a six-time All-Defensive member, was off to a solid start in his first season with Portland prior to the injury, averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals on .446/.365/.840 shooting in 12 games (33.4 minutes per contest).
While the press release doesn’t say anything about shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, he will missed Friday’s game as well. It will be the high-flying Canadian’s second consecutive absence. Sharpe is, at least for now, considered day-to-day, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link).
The Trail Blazers have been hit hard by backcourt injuries this fall. Henderson has yet to play in 2025/26; Blake Wesley is expected to miss extended time after undergoing foot surgery earlier this month; Matisse Thybulle is three weeks removed from thumb surgery which was expected to sideline him for four-to-six weeks; and Damian Lillard is out for the season with a torn Achilles, though the front office knew that when it re-signed Portland’s all-time leading scorer.
After a 5-3 start, the Blazers have dropped six of their past seven games and are currently 6-9.
“It’s just part of the game,” acting head coach Tiago Splitter said earlier this week, per Highkin. “We’ve got to adapt a little bit, and we will. Find ways to win basketball games just like everybody else. You’ve seen all the guys that are out lately [around the NBA], and the teams that adapt better to those situations are the teams that do well. So that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Highkin takes a look at some options the team might consider in the wake of all the guard injuries, including applying for a hardship exception. It’s unclear if the Blazers would be granted the exception, Highkin notes, as it will depend on how much more time Thybulle is expected to miss.
Blazers Notes: Williams, Splitter, Avdija, Holiday
Trail Blazers center Robert Williams was assigned to the G League’s Rip City Remix for conditioning purposes, the team’s PR department tweets. Williams is working his way back from a knee injury.
Health issues have limited Williams to 26 total outings since he was traded to Portland two years ago. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee back in March.
Williams will try to work his way into the rotation upon his return. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season and could be a valuable trade piece prior to this year’s deadline.
We have more on the Trail Blazers:
- Interim coach Tiago Splitter is the first Brazilian-born head coach in NBA history. It’s a matter of pride for Splitter, who has replaced Chauncey Billups after Billups was shockingly arrested by the FBI following the team’s season opener. and placed on indefinite leave by the league. “It’s an honor, to be honest,” Splitter said, per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. “You know, coming from Brazil is really, you know, a soccer country where basketball is growing, but it’s not there yet. And a lot of people follow me in Brazil and proud of just this accomplishment.”
- The Blazers have gone 2-1 since Splitter took over, including a 14-point win over the Lakers on Monday. Deni Avdija has led the team in scoring in all three games. “He knows how to talk to us. He knows how to prepare us,” Avdija said of Splitter, per Mark Medina of RG.org. “His basketball knowledge is very good. Other than that, I don’t want to get into that (the coaching situation) too much.”
- The team’s scoring limitations will define its ceiling, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. The Blazers shot 37% in a loss to the Clippers but bounced back to knock down 45.6% of their shots against the Lakers. They’re shooting 33.8 percent from deep and that could be a season-long issue. “I think our offense will definitely catch up to our defense,” Jrue Holiday said. “There’s been times where we get a bit stagnant, but it could be because we’re playing so hard on the defensive end. But I really enjoy our offense. The way we move the ball, the way we get each other involved, it’s not just one person doing everything. Everybody gets involved. That’s how I like my basketball.”
- Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) examines Shaedon Sharpe‘s four-year extension as well as Toumani Camara‘s four-year extension and what moves the front office might have in store in the near future, including a potential extension for Avdija.
Northwest Notes: Jazz, Blazers, Conley, Edwards, Thunder
Speaking to Tony Jones of The Athletic about the Jazz beginning construction on a new practice facility outside of downtown Salt Lake City, team owner Ryan Smith expressed optimism about the direction of the franchise, despite the fact that its win total has declined in each of the past four seasons.
“I think (new president of basketball operations) Austin (Ainge) is a star. I think (head coach) Will (Hardy) is a star,” Smith said. “I think we have one of the most exciting front offices in the league. We have a lot of picks and a lot of flexibility.”
After racking up 52 victories in 2020/21, Smith’s first year on the job, the club has won 49, 37, 31, and 17 in the years since then, embarking on a full-fledged rebuild during that time. While Smith is eager for the Jazz to begin reversing that trend and climbing back up the NBA standings, he acknowledged he can’t rush the process and has to exercise some patience.
“The picks aren’t coming fast enough for me, but I know this is the NBA. You have to grow the talent,” he told Jones. “We have brought in a lot of people who have a lot of rings. So, the ultimate goal is to win titles. That’s what matters. I understand that’s also the goal of every other team, so it’s really difficult and winning happens rarely. We just have to hit on these picks and keep stacking good decisions. It’s good to have Taylor (Hendricks) back. Walker (Kessler) is coming along. We just have to grow the guys.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:
- Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link) evaluates the extensions the Trail Blazers completed this week with Toumani Camara and Shaedon Sharpe, dubbing Camara’s four-year, $81MM deal a win-win for the forward and the team, while suggesting that Sharpe’s four-year, $90MM contract represents more of a “calculated risk” for the two sides. As Highkin writes, Sharpe still has All-Star upside entering his age-22 season, but there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll reach that ceiling.
- Retirement isn’t a consideration in the short term for Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley, who said ahead of his 19th NBA season that he’s “looking forward to trying to get to 20 and see what happens,” according to Sam Yip of HoopsHype. “There hasn’t been a day that I have felt like I should retire yet,” Conley said within a larger Q&A. “… I think it’ll come to a point where you get kind of overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do in order to stay at par to keep up with these guys, that it just becomes too much. But so far it’s not there, so hopefully we can squeeze a little bit more juice out of this thing.”
- In an in-depth story for The Athletic, Jon Krawczynski examines Anthony Edwards‘ drive to continue improving and his determination to win an NBA championship after being ousted in the Western Conference Finals in each of the past two years. Edwards is listed as questionable to play in Wednesday’s season opener in Portland due to back spasms, per the Timberwolves (Twitter link).
- Did the defending champion Thunder peak last season, will they peak this season, or are the best years for this core still ahead of them? Zach Kram of ESPN considers that question, outlining why all three possibilities are viable. Oklahoma City picked up its first win of the season in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, beating Houston by one point in a double-overtime thriller after Thunder players received their championship rings.
Jerami Grant To Come Off Bench For Blazers
The Trail Blazers‘ starting lineup when their season tips off on Wednesday vs. Minnesota will consist of Jrue Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe in the backcourt, Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija at forward, and Donovan Clingan in the middle, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
That means forward Jerami Grant will come off the bench for the first time since joining the Blazers in 2022 — and the first time since he was a member of the Nuggets during the 2019/20 season.
Grant, who was traded from Detroit to Portland during the 2022 offseason, has started all 164 games he has played for the team since then, averaging 18.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 34.1 minutes per game across those three seasons.
The 31-year-old is the second-highest-paid player on the roster, just behind Holiday, and remains under contract for at least two more years beyond this one, with a player option for 2027/28. However, he has been surpassed on the depth chart by Camara and Avdija, two younger players who look like long-term fixtures in Portland. Camara just signed a four-year contract extension with the team and is locked up through 2029/30, while Avdija has three guaranteed years left on his deal.
Asked about the possibility of coming off the bench at media day last month, Grant replied, “I don’t really expect that.” He later sought to clarify that he wouldn’t become disgruntled if he doesn’t end up starting, indicating that he’d be “fine” with it.
While the Blazers’ decision to move Grant out of the starting five doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the way that Camara and Avdija have emerged, it’s still a situation worth keeping an eye on during the first half of the season. The veteran forward looks like a potential trade candidate, but he has three years and $102.6MM left on his contract and is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he was limited to 47 games, so his value on the trade market would be extremely limited right now.