A pair of All-Stars have already been ruled out ahead of Friday night’s Emirates NBA Cup tilt between two of the Western Conference’s best teams, the 6-5 Portland Trail Blazers and the 7-3 Houston Rockets.
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Anyone who’s been paying attention to the NBA season at large no doubt knows who we’re talking about already.
Prodigal son Portland point guard Damian Lillard re-signed with the Trail Blazers this summer on a three-year, $41.6 million deal. The nine-time All-Star was unfortunately so affordable because (a) he tore his Achilles tendon during the playoffs last spring and (b) his remaining money was stretched and waived by his ex-team, the Milwaukee Bucks, during the offseason.
Lillard has already ruled himself out for the rest of the year as he recovers from the Achilles tear. When he does return, he’ll be joining an impressive, defense-first Trail Blazers club that could already be a frisky playoff club even without Lillard this season.
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One-time All-Star Houston point guard Fred VanVleet, meanwhile, tore the ACL in his right knee during a September workout and could also miss most or all of the year.
Houston has been compensating for VanVleet’s absence piecemeal.
Second-year guard Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of Kentucky, has been rounding into form of late. Across his last three contests, the 6-foot-2 pro has been averaging 16.3 points on 65.8 percent shooting from the field (including 60 percent shooting on 6.3 triple tries), plus 3.0 assists, 2.3 steals, 1.0 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 24.3 minutes per.
Free agent minimum signing Josh Okogie has played a bigger role than expected, while All-Defensive forward Amen Thompson has been asked to handle more than he otherwise would have.
According to the league’s latest injury report, guard Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear) will have to wait another day to make his season debut. All-Defensive wing Matisse Thybulle (left thumb ligament tear) and guard Blake Wesley (right foot fracture). Two-way player Javonte Cooke and rookie center Yang Hansen are both on assignment with the Trail Blazers’ G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix.
The 7-foot-1 Hansen has played sparingly for Portland thus far, and seems to be a bit more of a project than he had looked like during the preseason.
For Houston, two-way players Isaiah Crawford and Kevon Harris will be getting reps with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers — the Rockets’ NBAGL squad. 3-and-D swingman Dorian Finney-Smith, poached from the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, has yet to play a single game for the Rockets as he recuperates from an offseason left ankle surgery.
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