Aldridge not looking likely for Olympics: Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge underwent surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip on May 10, and posted on his twitter account that he is has not begun walking yet. This puts his status for the 2012 Summer Olympics in serious jeopardy, as the recovery time for his surgery is expected to take between two and four months. The roster for Team USA is expected to be set by July 8, which means he would have to make an extremely quick recovery to be ready. Jerry Colangelo, director of USA Basketball, told Comcast Sports Net Northwest that he does not expect Aldridge to be a part of the team. “In our minds, he's (Aldridge) on our unavailable list,” Colangelo told CSNNW.com. “We haven't heard from anybody telling us he's going to try and play. I got to hear from somebody. An agent, a doctor, somebody. As of now, we're going in thinking he's unavailable.” (Updated 05/20/2012)
Injury Report
Hip - Probable for start of 2012-13 season (Updated - 5/20/12)
Fantasy Analysis
Ultimately, this is probably good news for Aldridge’s Fantasy value, as he would be risking a set back by trying to return early for the Olympics. While it would have been nice to see him prove he is healthy well in advance of the season, this gives him more than enough time to get to full strength by the time the season begins. Barring any sort of unforeseen issues, he will be good to go by training camp, which means Fantasy owners should target him in the early rounds on Draft Day without fear. (Updated 05/20/2012).
04/10/2012 00:46 Rockets complete 4-0 road trip
Goran Dragic scored 22 points and the Houston Rockets completed a perfect four-game road trip with a 94-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
04/06/2012 23:31 Blazers win on Aldridge's jumper
LaMarcus Aldridge's buzzer-beating 17-foot jumper lifted the Portland Trail Blazers to a 99-97 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
04/03/2012 00:38 Millsap scores 31 in Jazz's victory
Paul Millsap had 31 points, including a go-ahead dunk with 1:11 left, and pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Utah Jazz snap a three-game losing streak with a 102-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
04/02/2012 10:12 Week 15 Start 'Em and Sit 'Em
J.J. Hickson has never really delivered on his potential, in part due to him being a defensive liability. However, as our Chris Towers writes, his could provide an offensive spark for both the Blazers and owners.
04/02/2012 00:04 Trail Blazers 119, Timberwolves 106
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points in his return after missing one game with a sore left elbow, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a 119-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
LaMarcus Aldridge finally had the breakout season everyone was waiting for during the 2010-11 campaign. The 26-year-old put up career-highs across the board, including points (21.8), rebounds (8.8), free-throw percentage (79.1) and minutes (39.6). He also posted 36 double-doubles and finished in the top 10, in terms of Fantasy points, among all Fantasy forwards last season. However, many feel he hasn't reached his ceiling yet, especially offensively, although the additions of Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton should help take away some of the double teams he consistently had to deal with last year. At the very least, owners know what they can expect from Aldridge at this point in his career. He is going to provide nightly scoring totals in the high-teens to go along with around 8-10 rebounds and a few dimes. Aldridge has also averaged a steal and block per game last season, which is going to really help out those in category-based formats. The fact that he will also have dual eligibility at center doesn't hurt either. While the Blazers finally added some healthy pieces to help take some of the burden off him, Aldridge can once again be considered a No. 1 Fantasy option, worthy of an early round selection on Draft Day. (Updated 8/29/11)
