C.J. McCollum Provides Optimistic Update On State of Rehab From Fractured Foot
There's still no concrete timeline for C.J. McCollum's return to the floor. Given the intensifying nature of his rehab, though, Trail Blazers fans can rest easy that McCollum is well on his way to a full recovery.
In a Thursday appearance on ESPN's The Jump, McCollum expressed clear optimism about the fractured left foot he suffered in a win over the Hawks on January 16.
"I'm feeling much better. I'm progressing," he said. "I'll be at six weeks on Saturday. Continuing to try and load the foot and strengthen it, I think that's what's been our main focus: trap-bar squats, lunges, stability stuff, getting more contact in on the foot and seeing how it responds."
McCollum also stressed that his history with this specific injury ensures he won't be rushing back to the court too soon. The 29-year-old first broke his left foot as a senior at Lehigh in 2013, an injury that caused him to miss the first two months of his rookie season.
"I'm looking forward to see how I feel at six weeks, and then kind of progressing from there. I want to be cautious with my approach with this injury, with this being my third foot fracture."
On February 16, the Blazers announced that McCollum was out of his walking boot and would be "reevaluated again in two weeks." He's been doing on-court work, sans contact, for approximately two weeks.
Portland is 10-8 since McCollum was sidelined, but enters Friday's tilt with the Lakers having lost three straight games. The Blazers' -1.9 net rating over that timeframe, per NBA.com/stats, suggests they've been lucky to play above .500 basketball without McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic – a notion supported by the frequency and impact of Damian Lillard's crunch-time heroics.
Like McCollum, Nurkic is slated to return shortly after the league's second half of the season tips off on March 10.