Shaedon Sharpe to Undergo Core Muscle Surgery, Out Indefinitely

Sharpe has been dealing with the injury off and on since November.

📸: Dustin Satloff, Getty Images

After several weeks of rest and rehab, the Trail Blazers announced on Tuesday that Shaedon Sharpe will undergo a core muscle surgery to address an injury he’s been playing through off and on all season.

A timetable for Sharpe’s return will be determined after the procedure, but this surgery generally comes with at least a six-week recovery timeline. If he has the surgery imminently and there are no setbacks with the recovery, it’s possible Sharpe could be cleared to play with about two weeks left in the season; at that point, it may make more sense not to push it and let him focus on being fully healthy for the start of training camp in the fall.

Sharpe initially suffered the injury early in the season—head coach Chauncey Billups has guessed that it happened during the Blazers’ Nov. 30 win in Cleveland.

He played through it for the next three weeks before it appeared on the injury report for the first time leading into Dec. 19’s home win against the Suns. Before that game, Sharpe was listed as “questionable.” He played and started, but exited after eight minutes and was ruled out for the rest of the game. He then missed the next four games and returned to the lineup on Jan. 1, at the start of a seven-game road trip. He got through the first five games before re-aggravating the injury during Jan. 11’s 62-point blowout loss in Oklahoma City. He has not played since.

On Jan. 15, the team announced that Sharpe had undergone an MRI that revealed a lower abdominal strain, and would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Just over two weeks later, on Jan. 31, they announced that his rehab was progressing and he had been cleared to ramp up to light on-court activities, but did not give a firm timetable for his return.

Since then, Sharpe had been attempting to work towards a return, and within the organization there was optimism he’d be back in the lineup after the All-Star break. But when his ramp-up didn’t go smoothly, the decision was made to go ahead with surgery to fix the issue long-term.

(Sharpe was selected to the Rising Stars game during All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis. Obviously, he will not be participating.)

The surgery Sharpe is having is one the Blazers are no stranger to. It’s similar to the procedure Damian Lillard underwent in January of 2022 to repair several years’ worth of core muscle damage. Lillard missed the rest of the 2021-22 season, where he had struggled by his standards as he battled through the discomfort. He returned at full strength and had one of the best seasons of his career in 2022-23, his last season in Portland before requesting a trade.

Two other Blazers players, Nassir Little and Gary Payton II, have also had the surgery in recent years. In most cases, it’s a straightforward recovery and not a lingering issue.