Trail Blazers center Meyers Leonard, who was in a walking boot in the team’s locker room on Thursday, underwent an MRI on his injured right ankle and got some good news and bad news. According to the Blazers (Twitter link via Casey Holdahl), Leonard avoided major structural damage, but a lateral ankle sprain will keep him sidelined for about four to six weeks.
Leonard suffered the injury on Wednesday, before Blazers practice officially got underway. He was participating in some one-on-one work with Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan when he landed awkwardly, per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.
“I went to block Zach’s shot and landed on his big old size 19’s,” Leonard said.
Leonard, who is in the second season of a lucrative four-year deal with the Blazers, has been struggling to work his way into the team’s regular rotation this season. Through five games, the 25-year-old center has played just 17 total minutes, appearing in two contests. Ed Davis has handled backup duties at center behind starter Jusuf Nurkic.
The Blazers should get a boost to their frontcourt depth soon, with Noah Vonleh aiming to return to the court next week. Outside of Leonard and Vonleh, both of Portland’s two-way players – Wade Baldwin and C.J. Wilcox – are also sidelined due to injuries.
Does injuries on 2-way players count toward injury exception?
I’m pretty sure that only players on standard NBA contracts count toward a potential hardship exception.