Trail Blazers Update Injury Return Picture for Several Players

For several weeks, the Trail Blazers' health situation hasn't changed, with the updates being frustratingly vague. Whenever acting head coach Tiago Splitter has been asked about the statuses of the likes of Scoot Henderson, Jrue Holiday and Matisse Thybulle, all of whom are well past the initial timeline when they were said to be re-evaluated, all he's been able to say is that they're progressing but not ready yet to return.

Now, on the first morning of 2026, the Trail Blazers have given an official update on the statuses of four players: those three and Jerami Grant.

(Just for housekeeping on the other injured players on the roster: Blake Wesley, out since Nov. 3 with a right foot fracture, is still within the 8-12 week timeline the team gave following his surgery; Damian Lillard is still not planning to play this season as he continues to rehab his torn left Achilles.)

Thursday's updates, while not definitive in when players might return to the court, at least provide some clarity on where things are and, in a couple of cases, the news is relatively encouraging.

Let's take them one-by-one and break down what they mean.

Jrue Holiday

Holiday has missed the last 22 games with a right calf strain that first flared up before the Blazers' Nov. 16 loss in Dallas. The team announced on Nov. 21 that he would be re-evaluated in one to two weeks.

Almost six weeks after that update, here's the latest from the team on Thursday morning:

Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday has been cleared for a progression of on-court basketball activities as he continues his return-to-play process. Availability will be determined based on functional response to loading and updated accordingly.

It isn't clear from the update what level of on-court activities Holiday is doing, or whether he's cleared for full-contact scrimmaging, which would be the final step before he's able to play in a game again. But he at least appears to be getting closer to a return.

The Blazers were 6-6 in the first 12 games of the season when Holiday played; they've been 8-14 since he went out.

Jerami Grant

After scoring 20 points in the Blazers' Dec. 18 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings, Grant appeared on the injury report with left Achilles soreness. He was initially listed as questionable going into the Dec. 20 rematch with the Kings before being ruled out; he has now missed the Blazers' last seven games, with the official injury designation being changed from Achilles soreness to Achilles tendinitis.

According to the Blazers' newest update, Grant is considered day-to-day, a good sign that the injury isn't believed to be serious.

In the cases of both Holiday and Grant, the team is being careful with veteran players over 30 dealing with lower-leg soft-tissue injuries that seem to be rampant across the NBA.

Matisse Thybulle

Thybulle tore a ligament in his left thumb during the Blazers' Oct. 29 win over the Utah Jazz and was ruled out for four to six weeks after undergoing surgery two days later.

Until today, it had been almost nine weeks since that update, and Thybulle hasn't appeared close to a return. This was the most puzzling of the Blazers' absences. Unlike the calf and Achilles issues Holiday and Grant have been dealing with, Thybulle's injury to his non-shooting hand typically has a pretty straightforward recovery process and, since it isn't a lower leg injury, doesn't prevent him from doing other physical activities to stay in shape, so it wasn't expected to require a long ramp-up once he was cleared.

But as it turns out, the thumb tear wasn't the only ailment Thybulle has been dealing with that's held up his return.

From the team on Thursday:

While reconditioning for return to play following left thumb ligament surgery, Matisse Thybulle has been working on a progressive ramp up, despite persistent symptoms with right knee tendinopathy. He continues to progress with on-court work and conditioning and his status will be updated as appropriate.

Thybulle missed all four of the Blazers' preseason games with right knee soreness. But he wasn't listed on the injury report at all for the season opener against Minnesota and played in four of the Blazers' first five games of the season before suffering the thumb injury. The one game he missed in that early part of the season was Oct. 27's win over the Los Angeles Lakers, which was due to right hip soreness.

An ankle injury limited Thybulle to just 15 games last season, and he now remains out indefinitely with this knee issue. He has played a total of 106 games over parts of four seasons in Portland since coming over from Philadelphia at the 2023 trade deadline. He is in the final year of a three-year, $33 million contract he signed in the summer of 2023.

Scoot Henderson

The most serious of the Blazers' lingering injuries has come for Henderson, who is also the most important of any of these players to the Blazers' long-term future. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 draft, coming off a strong second half to last season and what was by all accounts a very productive summer that had everyone in the organization optimistic that a breakout was coming this year, suffered a torn left hamstring the week before the start of training camp in a pickup run at the Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin.

Initially, the Blazers said Henderson would be out for four to eight weeks. At the end of that timeline, they said he would be re-evaluated in two to four weeks.

Now, six weeks after that update, comes this one on Thursday morning:

Scoot Henderson has initiated non-contact, on-court basketball activities as he advances to the next phase of rehabilitation for his left hamstring. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks, with updates provided as appropriate.

The two-week timeline means Henderson will be re-evaluated after the Blazers' Jan. 15 home game against the Atlanta Hawks, although it's almost certain he misses more time than that. A timeline for re-evaluation is not a timeline for a return; the best-case scenario is that Henderson is cleared in two weeks to do contact drills in practice, which would be a sign that he's truly close to a return. But even once that happens, it would likely be at least another week of ramp-up to get him back in game shape after missing all of training camp and the first half of the season.

The fact that Henderson hasn't had a setback in his rehab from the hamstring tear is a good sign, but don't expect him back on the court in the immediate future.