Shaedon Sharpe Out at Least 2 Weeks With Lower Abdominal Strain

Sharpe has been dealing with the injury since late November.

📸: Brian Rothmuller, Getty Images

The Trail Blazers announced that Shaedon Sharpe will be re-evaluated in two weeks after an MRI showed he has suffered a lower abdominal strain. Sharpe had been dealing with the injury on and off since late November.

Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups said in December that he believed Sharpe initially suffered the injury in Cleveland during the Nov. 30 win against the Cavaliers—a game that, incidentally, was Sharpe’s best of the season. He equalled his season high of 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, hitting four three-pointers and adding 10 rebounds, five assists and a steal.

That performance kicked off a stretch of five straight games where Sharpe scored 20 or more points; after that, his production tailed off considerably, starting with a 1-of-12 shooting performance in the Dec. 14 loss at home against Utah.

The adductor injury first appeared on the Blazers’ injury report ahead of the Dec. 19 game against Phoenix. Sharpe was listed as “questionable” going into that game but decided to give it a go. He started and played the first eight minutes, did not score and took one shot. At halftime, he was ruled out for the remainder of the game, which the Blazers ultimately won.

In the weeks following Sharpe’s exit from the Suns game, the Blazers were optimistic that rest would be enough to do the job. He returned to the lineup at the start of the seven-game January road trip, coming off the bench and under a minutes limit. That restriction was seemingly lifted when he played 40 minutes and scored 21 points in the Blazers’ overtime win in Brooklyn. Two games later, he re-aggravated the adductor injury during the 62-point blowout loss in Oklahoma City.

On Sunday night, with the Blazers finally home from a two-week road trip, Sharpe underwent testing, which confirmed the strain.

With Sharpe out for at least the next two weeks, and Malcolm Brogdon potentially on the trade block ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline, more minutes could be opened up for rookie Rayan Rupert, who has been playing in the G League for the Rip City Remix and scored a career-high 11 points in Sunday’s loss to Phoenix.