A few days before Christmas, Trail Blazers’ wing Justise Winslow suffered a Grade 2 sprained ankle in a game against the Thunder. He has not set foot on a court since.
Now he has undergone an ankle procedure that likely sidelines him for the rest of this season. From the official Trail Blazers release:
Post All-Star break, Winslow received a second opinion, and a subsequent bone marrow aspirate concentrate procedure was performed in March to address continued left ankle discomfort.
A bone marrow aspirate concentrate procedure involves taking bone marrow from another part of the body, distilling it into a concentrate, then injecting that marrow into the injured area to promote healing. It is not unheard of in the NBA, Dwight Howard had it back in 2015, and the recovery time is traditionally 4-6 weeks.
In this case, that would be past the end of the season. It’s doubtful we’ll see Winslow back on the court for Portland this season. Winslow averaged 6.8 points and five rebounds a game for the Blazers when he did play.
The Trail Blazers sit 13th in the West despite brilliant play from Damian Lillard this season, and the team is 2.5 games out of the final play-in spot. Portland desperately needs some wins to have a chance.
Winslow is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
