Days go by and look the same in Portland, and that adage sadly holds true for Zach Collins. The young Blazers player, absent from the courts since August 2020, sees his unavailability largely prolonged in time following a new surgery to the ankle. The news must be even harder to swallow when you know the competition now on the spot.
Zach Collins is currently entering his fourth year in the NBA. The versatile 4/5 position drafted in tenth position by the Kings in 2017 and sent directly to the Blazers in a trade should currently be on the court for the start of this 2020-21 season. However, the 23-year-old interior is removed from the game with yet another injury. Following a stress fracture of the left medial malleolus contracted during the NBA bubble in Orlando, the player had ankle surgery in September and was hoping for a return by mid-January 2021. However, all does not did not go as planned, as all too often with him unfortunately. The Blazers have just announced through a medical statement that Collins had actually undergone a new operation on Wednesday, December 30 to treat this fracture, probably poorly healed until then. And this new long-term absence will not benefit the player at all, Portland having strengthened during the offseason with the arrivals of Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr., on a position 4 also occupied by Carmelo Anthony, but also with the nugget of Kings Harry Giles and the return of Enes Kanter to support Jusuf Nurkic in the painting. The indoor sector is therefore already well filled and Collins will have to whip on his return while keeping himself in shape if he wants to keep a chance to play.
INJURY UPDATE: Zach Collins underwent revision surgery today to repair a left medial malleolus stress fracture.
Collins is out indefinitely and his status will be updated accordingly. Get well soon, Z ❤️ https://t.co/ZhltHo1hGq
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) December 30, 2020
If the news must disappoint in both camps, the most cruel remains for the player, accustomed to the galleys almost since his arrival in the NBA. For good reason, after having chained the first two almost full seasons (66 then 77 games played) and very promising, the interior has become a real man in crystal. Following an ankle injury contracted during the 2019 offseason, the fellow was unable to prepare as well as possible for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The worst will happen thereafter, with this shoulder dislocated against the Mavericks at the end of October 2019. This injury requiring an operation and a long period of stoppage thereafter allowed him to replay in the bubble organized in Orlando only because the schedule for the season has been completely delayed, and for what result. The fate will hit him again after a few games, depriving him of Playoffs because of a new injury, this famous stress fracture in the ankle contracted in August 2020 and still not treated.. Collins could therefore only play eleven games in 2019-20 and hoped to take advantage of the new exercise to revive. It’s missed for now and during that time his teammates will have fun on the floors and give ideas to Terry Stotts. Despite everything, let’s not forget the contribution that a Collins in good shape and on both legs (it’s better) can have. Mobile and versatile interior, capable of taking a few 3-point shots and a real soldier ready to go to the front for his team, the Blazer had seduced since its Draft. With honorable career averages of 5.7 points at 44.4% shooting including 32.4% at three points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes of play, we now only see the number of games played in the past three years (154 matches) to criticize it.
We know one to whom this year 2020, and even the 2019-20 season by extension, did not have to please at all. Collins has barely been able to walk the NBA floors for over a year and sees his career slip through his fingers. We hope for a return to form, and this time for good, of this player who is so fragile but also very useful in his role. Good luck Zach, we believe in you!
Text source: NBA.com
