Those of us eager to see Noah Vonleh build upon a solid close to the 2016/17 campaign will have to wait for the 22-year-old to recover from a shoulder injury first. As Jason Quick of CSN Northwest writes, the big man is likely to miss the first two weeks of the regular season.
Vonleh injured his shoulder playing pickup games at the team’s practice facility this week but Quick notes that it’s not so serious as to require surgery.
In 74 total games with the Blazers last year, Vonleh posted a modest line of 3.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game but it was stretch in April during which the famously raw prospect showcased some of his intriguing potential. Vonleh posted three double-doubles in the last two weeks of the season last year, including one 12-point, 19-rebound night in Portland’s regular season finale.
Vonleh’s first few seasons in the NBA haven’t been without their share of physical setbacks, although nothing he’s suffered has been particularly serious. The former Hoosier suffered a sports hernia prior to setting foot on the court back in 2014/15 and went under the knife again for a minor procedure last offseason.
Neither of those injuries – one being the hernia and the other a bone fragment in his thigh – had anything to do with the big man’s shoulder.