COLUMN: Blazers’ Joel Freeland Out Two Weeks With Strained Shoulder
Monday, January 05, 2015
Over the last few games, and particularly on Saturday against the Hawks, I'd begun to marvel at what extended playing time had done for Joel Freeland as he filled in for the injured Robin Lopez.
With regular rotation minutes finally guaranteed, Freeland was starting to look not only comfortable, but confident. He was using his size to alter shots, rather than to give fouls. Beneath a big body, his on-court intelligence was beginning to shine. He was blooming from a liability to an asset.
Then he got hurt.
Again.
Against the Hawks, Saturday, Freeland experienced a right shoulder strain while trying to block Paul Millsap.
The incident aggravated an old injury, a torn rotator cuff, that Freeland originally suffered in 2010 while playing in the Spanish professional league, ACB.
He will miss at least the next two weeks. (Robin Lopez, meanwhile, is expected to return in February.)
Now, before we get to who'll replace Freeland, who started the last eight games, it's worth mentioning: the Brit has been anything but durable.
He's missed strings of games due to injury in each year in his two-plus seasons in Portland, as well as time in Spain, with the initial rotator cuff injury. He's also missed time for the British national team.
This history is worth noting for a multitude of reasons, not only because Freeland's contract is up at the end of this season, but because he's been felled while playing quite limited minutes, and becuase he doesn't have one nagging injury.
This isn't the case of a balky knee.
Freeland's been busted up from top to bottom, missing time due to shoulders, hips and knees. He's a 27-year-old big whose begun to prove he's got the brain of an NBA player, but yet to ensure that his body is up for the regular pounding.
Now, Freeland could be the vicitim of circumstance as well--limited minutes cut both ways.
But that's a question for the offseason.
What matters for Portland right now is who'll take Freeland's place. And unlike when Lopez went down, there is no heir apparent.
As I wrote last month, moving Chris Kaman into the starting lineup is a recipe for diminishing returns. (Doubly so now that he's got a newborn in the house and is likely getting less sleep.)
Instead of elevating one player, the Trail Blazers should instead shift to a more situational response, adapting game to game, opponent to opponent, by going small when possible and by committee--including LaMarcus Aldridge when necessary--and riding the hot hand, be it Thomas Robinson, Meyers Leonard, or otherwise.
Fortunately the Blazers' next four opponents provide ample opportunities to adapt and experiment. The Lakers, who they'll face twice, along with the Heat and Magic, are all small, mostly feeble teams.
After that, though, it gets a little rocky.
The Blazers then play a three-game stretch against the Clippers, Spurs and Grizzlies--all playoff-bound teams with formidable inside presence.
Following that rough patch--which would be difficult even with the Blazers at full strength--the waters calm once again.
And by then Freeland should return, with Lopez not far behind.
Indeed, while a injury to the Blazers' backup big man seemed somewhat frightful at the time, it could've been a lot worse.
Still, there is a price to pay: Freeland was making the best of his extended opportunity, really learning on the job. But now--yet again--that clock resets.
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