The Portland Trail Blazers should be an interesting team to follow this season as they lost four of their five starters from a year ago and have almost a completely different roster. There are some people out there that think they could be the worst team in the Western Conference but then there are some who think they can surprise people. One of the keys to the Blazers being able to surprise people is Al-Farouq Aminu who they signed this offseason. Aminu is currently dealing with a hamstring injury though and may not be available for the team's season opener, according to Casey Holdahl of NBA.com.
Aminu suffered the hamstring injury in the middle of the preseason and it caused him to miss the final three preseason games. At the time Aminu insisted it was minor but it is a hamstring injury after all and those tend to linger. Aminu hasn't been able to practice fully yet but he is still not ruling out playing Wednesday because he says that he is making pretty good progress. The 6 foot-9 forward doesn't think he is being held out as a precaution he just isn't able to do some of the things he would like to on the court.
"It's just limiting, hasn't opened up the whole way like I would have wanted it to. It restricts me from doing certain things, which you never want. As long as it doesn't restrict me from doing anything, by that time, I'll be able to go back again," said Aminu.
The Blazers gave Aminu a four year $30 million deal this offseason to come in and be their starting small forward so they expect a lot from him. To this point in his career Aminu has been a great defender in the NBA but his offensive game has lagged behind. The Blazers are hoping that with more opportunity in Portland his offensive game will blossom. Aminu is one of many players that will need to step up in order for the Blazers to have a successful season and having him healthy is the first step.
Aminu doesn't have a timetable as of right now for a return as he may be back for Wednesday (although it's highly unlikely) or he could possibly miss a couple of weeks but while he is out the Blazers are expected to start Moe Harkless. Harkless himself just returned to practice on Sunday after spraining his ankle but he should be good to go Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
