LaMarcus Aldridge's Heart Surgery Another Hurdle Trail Blazers Won't Overcome

The Portland Trail Blazers are happy that LaMarcus Aldridge is alright, but their basketball lives are still falling apart around them.

Aldridge was the backbone of the Trail Blazers over the last year and a half, playing power forward and center and doing whatever it took to help his team win. Now he is coming off heart surgery.

While Brandon Roy was the vocal leader, Aldridge was the leader of the team on the court because of his hard-hat mentality. Now a surgery will sideline him for the beginning portion of training camp.

The Trail Blazers official site is reporting about Aldridge’s procedure and timetable for return:

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Portland Trail Blazers forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge underwent a successful procedure today to evaluate the status of the electrical system in his heart, it was announced today by the team. He will be sidelined for 5-7 days before he can return to practice. Aldridge, who was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome in 2007, underwent a similar procedure to correct the problem at the time of diagnosis. 

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OK, Aldridge’s injury isn’t as terrible as it was made out to be, but it’s just the icing on the injury cake for Portland. They also got bad news from stars Greg Oden and Roy.

For Roy, he is seeking a medical retirement from the NBA. It was thought that the Trail Blazers were going to use their amnesty clause on the veteran star, but Roy has chosen his own fate.

Maybe some time at home allowing his knees to get healthy over the next season could convince him to come back to the NBA at some point.

As it pertains to Oden, the Trail Blazers have said that he had a setback in his return to the court from several knee issues over the years. This is the worst possible news for a team that was depending on Oden to become the star most people believe he can be if he ever stays healthy.

Add the messes with Roy and Oden to the heart surgery of Aldridge and you have some very worried Trail Blazer faithful.

There is too much damage done, Portland will falter big this season.

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