TUALATIN, Ore. — The two players that the Portland Trail Blazers acquired in a trade for Nicolas Batum two weeks ago have had some bad luck.
During their second day of training camp in preparation for the Las Vegas Summer League later this week, Blazers forward Noah Vonleh left the practice early after rolling his left ankle.
The team announced on Tuesday that Gerald Henderson underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his left hip.
Henderson — the Blazers say — will be ready for training camp.
As far as Vonleh’s availability moving forward, the Blazers are mum on that front, saying only that he was getting treatment following the injury in practice.
“Noah’s playing hard,” said Blazers coach Dale Osbourne, who is sharing the summer league coaching duties with Nate Tibbetts. “He’s willing to listen. He’s very coachable. He’s looking forward, he’s happy to be here. So far so good.”
Osbourne said that Vonleh hurt his ankle during a scrimmage portion of practice.
Vonleh missed all of training camp last season as a rookie in Charlotte, which set him back. With Summer League serving as a mini-training camp, it would be another dose of bad luck and bad timing for Vonleh.
While Vonleh’s Summer League status remains a mystery, there was more clarity on the role fourth-year big man Meyers Leonard will play in Las Vegas.
“He’s not playing summer league,” said Osbourne about Leonard. “He’s just showing up, showing some leadership and trying to get better every day. He’s doing a good job, he’s been in our system 3-4 years. He knows the drills, he knows the plays.”
Leonard is taking the opportunity to practice against with the team throughout their training camp and be around them in Las Vegas, while he works out.
Portland’s lone-remaining All-Star Damian Lillard also made a guest appearance at the practice facility for the summer league team’s morning session.
When media were let in, Lillard could be seen resting against one of the movable baskets watching the players scrimmage.
The Blazers promoted that Lillard was in the drills with players with pictures via their Twitter account but Osbourne admitted it was only one drill that Lillard participated in.
Still, he found that it gave the guys on their second day of two-a-day practices a lift.
“It’s good to have his presence here and show his leadership,” Osbourne said. “He jumped in the drill and that was good. Guys like that.”
