2 min read • July 12, 2022
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A little over five minutes into his first appearance in a Portland uniform, Trail Blazers’ No. 7 overall pick Shaedon Sharpe suffered a small labral tear in his left shoulder.
Sharpe will miss the rest of summer league and will need surgery to fully heal his ailing left shoulder, according to the Pro Basketball Docs.
The Trail Blazers may postpone the inevitable by allowing Sharpe to rehab the tear before he is re-evaluated, but the question of surgery for the 19-year-old is a matter of when, not if.
Recovery for a labrum repair would take six months, stalling Sharpe’s NBA debut in what is expected to be a development-focused year for the talented but raw guard.
Sharpe suffered the reported labral tear last Thursday, as shown in the video below.
The injury mechanism is consistent with a subluxation or dislocation and associated labrum damage, the Docs say, and he is likely now suffering from shoulder instability.
A labrum tear, no matter how small, will worsen over time and won’t heal without surgery.
Sharpe would likewise be limited, even with the support of a brace.
If Sharpe and the Blazers elect to treat the tear conservatively, as the team did with Damian Lillard’s core muscle injury last season, it is likely to lead to further associated issues.
Blazers' third-year forward Nassir Little suffered a left shoulder labrum tear of his own in January and underwent surgery later that week.
Portland was unlikely to depend on Sharpe this season as he acclimated to the NBA, much like they did with Anfernee Simons in 2018-19.
Sharpe graduated from high school a semester early and enrolled at Kentucky for the end of the 2022 season, but elected to enter the Draft without taking the court for the Wildcats when he was surprisingly deemed eligible.
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Trail Blazers lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe has a small labral tear in his left shoulder and will be re-evaluated in 10-to-14 days, team says.
