Get Well Soon! The Injured Blazers' Recovery Timetables

After last night's game, it was clear to me that, given our injury situation this year, EVERYTHING has to go right for us to be able to hang with the better teams in the league.  Last night, just about everything went right except LMA showing up.  And sure enough, we lost.  That bodes well for our future, though, because we have some pretty great players on the team who aren't playing right now due to our ridiculous run of injuries this season.

So that got me thinking: what exactly IS the recovery timetable for our guys, and how will it effect us in the short-to-medium term?  Here's a player-by-player look at this year's injuries, recovery timetables and impact on the team:

1) Greg Oden: Fractured patella, done for the season. 

Awful, depressing and just an all-around bummer.  However, the silver lining is that Greg expects a full recovery and will be at full strength next year.  Now, it remains to be seen whether or not he will continue to suffer a string of injuries, or whether he'll go "Benjamin Button" on us and have a relatively healthy career ahead of him.  Being an eternal optimist, I will continue to believe the latter until he suffers something with a long-term impact on his health.

Obviously we are really hurting without Oden; LMA or Juwan Howard have to spot Przybilla when he needs a rest or is in foul trouble.  This is going to continue to be an issue for us all season long -- we'll see if KP makes a move to get us another reliable rebounder before Greg comes back.

2) Travis Outlaw: Foot surgery, out until March-April. 

Outlaw underwent surgery in mid-November with a 3-5 month timeline for his return.  I'm guessing that we won't be seeing Travis until the very end of the season, as there's no reason for him to rush back and re-injure the foot.

Outlaw is in a contract year, so the injury is a huge setback for him.  For the team, however, Outlaw has a decent-sized expiring contract that is an asset whether or not he is playing.  Before the injury, Outlaw was essentially backing up LaMarcus Aldridge at the 4.  He offered a consistent scoring threat off the bench which we have been sorely missing since he went out.  Juwan Howard and Dante Cunningham have taken most of his minutes, and have not been particularly effective.  Expect us to improve when Outlaw works himself back into the rotation at the end of the season.

Expect Travis to play in 5-10 more regular season games this year, plus the playoffs.  I hope that's enough time for him to get his groove back, because it will definitely help us win some of those games.

3) Nicolas Batum: Shoulder surgery, out until February-March. 

Next to Oden's patella fracture, Batum's injury has probably had the biggest impact on our team this year.  Fortunately he is young and still locked into a rookie contract, so he has plenty of time to recover from the surgery.  Batum had his surgery before the season started, so we'll probably get him back before Travis.

Batum provided an important skill set to the starting unit that has since been lacking: perimeter defense and 3-point shooting.  One would think that Martell Webster would be a great fit to slide in and fill those shoes, but he has not done so effectively this season.  When Batum is back and healthy, Webster will return to the bench where (according to his play this season) he clearly belongs.

Expect Nic to play in 20-25 more regular season games plus the playoffs.  That's a healthy chunk of the season for Batum to make an impact for us.

4) Rudy Fernandez: Back surgery, out until mid-to-late January. 

Fernandez's back surgery in early December was the latest blow in our team's run of bad luck this season.  Fortunately, his recovery time is much shorter than Outlaw's and Batum's, so we'll get him back sometime in January.  We have sorely missed Rudy's scoring and 3-point shooting, and he's actually stepped up his perimeter defense this season as well.

When Fernandez returns, he'll probably get some of Martell's minutes, but it will also force Nate to make some choices about which of the PG triumvirate is going to have their minutes reduced to accommodate him.  Here's to hoping that it's Steve Blake.

Expect Fernandez to play 35-40 more regular season games plus the playoffs.  By the time April rolls around, we'll have forgotten how much we missed him during this rough patch in December.

5) Patrick Mills: broken toe, doesn't matter when he'll return. 

Mills is our 15th (now 16th) man and will not see a minute of non-garbage time this season.  This is the one injury that won't impact us at all.  Still, we wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.

So remember, Blazer fans, there is a light at the end of this tunnel of basketball mediocrity.  We don't need to make any panic trades, fire our coach or hang our stars out to dry.  Just hope for a full recovery for these four talented Blazers and we'll see where fate takes us from there!  And let's hope that this is the end of our awful luck with injuries for many years to come.