McCollum out four weeks, Nurkić out eight weeks as Trail Blazers’ injury report grows

(UPDATE 11:15 p.m.) The Trail Blazers announce CJ McCollum will miss at least four weeks, when he’ll be re-evaluated.

INJURY UPDATE: Further imaging reveals CJ McCollum with a small hairline fracture to the lateral cuneiform in his left foot and a mid-foot sprain. McCollum will wear a walking boot and be re-evaluated in four weeks.

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 19, 2021

(ORIGINAL 12:16 p.m.) Portland lost Jusuf Nurkić to a broken wrist (out at least 8 weeks) and CJ McCollum to a left foot sprain (out at least a week) in the span of two games.

Terry Stotts said on Monday McCollum will be re-evaluated in a week. The Blazers play four games before the next evaluation, and if McCollum still can’t go the same night as his next check-up he’ll miss at least five games.

Luckily for Portland, they’re playing all five games at home. Monday (Jan. 18) against San Antonio; Jan. 20 and 22 against Memphis; Jan. 24 against New York; and Jan. 25 against OKC.

As for Nurk, with an “optimistic” 8-week timeline, he’ll miss through the All-Star Game and then some. The All-Star Break is scheduled for March 5-10, 2021.

In other words, Nurkić will miss at least 25 games, including the Atlanta game he already missed this past weekend. He’ll likely miss at least three or four games post-All-Star Break, even if he can stick to missing just eight weeks.

The reason we don’t know (other than he still needs to recover) is, to this point, the NBA hasn’t announced the second half of the season.

Obviously, on top of Nurk and McCollum, the Blazers still don’t have Zach Collins. Rookie CJ Elleby is also dealing with a left foot strain.

Monday afternoon against San Antonio, Rodney Hood returned to the Blazers starting five, replacing McCollum, Stotts said.

Follow 750 The Game on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.