Trail Blazers' Zach Collins suffers another injury setback

Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins suffered another health setback, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that Collins re-fractured his foot.

Collins missed the entire 2020-21 season after undergoing a pair of surgeries on his left ankle. He originally injured the ankle and went under the knife during the NBA’s bubble restart last summer, then underwent revision surgery in December to repair a left medial malleolus stress fracture.

Although Charania’s report doesn’t specify which foot Collins injured, his use of “re-fracture” suggests it’s once again that left foot.

It’s a brutal turn of events for Collins, a former 10th overall pick who is eligible for restricted free agency this offseason. Since entering Portland’s starting lineup on a full-time basis at the start of the ’19-20 season, the 23-year-old has only been able to play in 11 games, missing most of last year due to shoulder surgery.

In 154 career regular-season games (17.5 MPG), Collins has averaged 5.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG on .444/.324/.722 shooting.

Portland has always been high on the former Gonzaga standout, trading the 15th and 20th overall picks in the 2017 draft to move up to No. 10 to get him. However, given his history of injuries, it now seems unlikely that the fourth-year forward/center will even receive a qualifying offer this summer. If he doesn’t get that QO (worth about $7M), he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.