Shaedon Sharpe will miss most of the 2026/27 season, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the Trail Blazers guard suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and is expected to be sidelined for six months.
If Sharpe is able to return in exactly six months, he’d be back in action at the end of February, leaving roughly six weeks until the regular season ends on April 11.
Sharpe tore his right meniscus during an individual workout and is expected to undergo surgery this week, a source tells Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (Twitter link).
It’s a tough blow for Sharpe, who was limited to just 50 appearances last season largely due to a stress reaction in his left fibula, which caused him to miss 28 games. He was able to return to action just before the 2025/26 regular season ended and appeared in all five of Portland’s playoff games, though he didn’t make a major postseason impact, averaging 7.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per game.
In his 50 regular season contests in 2025/26, Sharpe averaged 20.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 29.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .452/.337/.787. The 23-year-old is entering the first season of a four-year, $90MM rookie scale extension he signed last October.
A 6’5″ shooting guard from London, Ontario, Sharpe was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft despite not playing a game for Kentucky in his lone college season. Through four years in the NBA, he holds career averages of 15.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.2 APG on .450/.332/.781 shooting in 234 games, including 134 starts (28.0 MPG).
In a league full of spectacular athletes, Sharpe may be the top leaper, especially off two feet. He’s an electrifying dunker (YouTube link) and can score points in bunches. However, his efficiency leaves something to be desired, he averaged more turnovers than assists last season, and his defense can be inconsistent.
As Keith Smith of Spotrac observes (via Twitter), if there’s a silver lining for the Blazers, it’s that they already projected to have a crowded backcourt, with Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson in the mix and Deni Avdija acting as a point forward last season. Still, the team will obviously miss Sharpe’s talent and skills as it looks to build upon last year’s playoff berth.