Zach Collins has been ruled out for the rest of the NBA season with an Achilles injury. The 7-foot power forward was speculated to maybe be available at some point in the future.
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Zach Collins was an important rotation member in the Trail Blazers’ 6-2 run to close the regular season in the NBA bubble. While he wasn’t that big a scoring presence, Collins was a floor spacer and provided energy on the boards. Collins was also an impactful defender able to switch out onto the perimeter.
ESPN story on Blazers losing starting forward Zach Collins to season-ending ankle surgery. https://t.co/CLqzfcJnsa
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 21, 2020
The Portland Trail Blazers will consider themselves severely underhanded as the 2017 NBA draft pick joins the ranks of Trevor Ariza and Rodney Hood among their unavailable roster members. How will the Trail Blazers cope up with the 3rd missing member of their frontcourt?
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Adjustments that the Trail Blazers will make in Zach Collins’ Absence
Zach Collins’ unavailability is almost a guarantee that we will see more of the Nurkic-Whiteside big man duo out on the court together. Nurkic has developed into a relatively solid shooter from the perimeter. He will be playing the role of the power forward when the two are sharing court time. Nurkic is also likely to pick up the Anthony Davis assignment.
The Trail Blazers will also be looking to feature Wenyen Gabriel more in the early minutes of games. Acquired from the Sacramento Kings as part of the Trevor Ariza trade, the 7-foot forward will be a factor in the series from now on. Gabriel was relatively impressive during the court time he saw in Game 1 of the series, although less so in Game 2.
