Reports: Blazers C Meyers Leonard (Ankle) Returns To Practice

Candace Bucker of The Columbian (here) and Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (here) reported on Twitter that Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Meyers Leonard returned to practice on Friday for the first time since spraining his right ankle during a Dec. 29 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Blazers are 5-5 in the 10 games Leonard has missed with the injury.

The Blazers next play on Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Rose Garden. Leonard's status for that game is not yet known.

Leonard discussed his injury with Joe Freeman of The Oregonian earlier this week.

"I'm getting better daily, there's no doubt about that," he said, before the Blazers lost to the Nuggets. "I've made a lot of progress."

...

"It was pretty gross," he said. "It was not good looking. When I did it, I was like, ‘Holy moly, what did I just do?' I was lucky, I think, to not have any fractures or anything worse. It looked pretty gross."

Leonard, 20, is averaging 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game this season.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter