No, the headline is not a joke. Brandon Roy, who leads the young Portland Trail Blazers in scoring, assists, and steals, will have arthroscopic knee surgery this Thursday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
With the news of Greg Oden finally being released from his injury rehabilitation, knee injuries were supposed to be the last thing on the minds of Blazer fans.
Rookies will now have to step up in Roy's absence. Let's take a look at possible situations that could replace Portland's current depth chart:
1. New-comers Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless can split playing time to make up for Roy's large playing time average of 37.7 minutes per game.
2. Martell Webster can shift to shooting guard, with Travis Outlaw taking the starting spot. Fernandez can back-up Webster while Bayless resumes his natural position of point guard.
With Roy expected to be out for an estimated three to four months, the pressure is on for rookies to step up in the team's true time of need.
Although this can be compared to Oden's situation in the last off-season, it really can't. Roy is Portland's All-Star, their undisputed leader. It will take more than talent to fill Roy's shoes.
Will the Blazers still make the playoffs? Will they even have a winning season? What do you think Coach McMillan will do to adapt to this unlikely scenario?
UPDATE: After lots of yelling and angry feelings, I looked at Oregonlive and it said Roy will be fine. I thought that this situation would be similar to Gilbert Arenas, but in all reality it was much less severe. Roy should be back before the Blazers tip-off against the Lakers on October 28th.
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