Nassir Little's shoulder injury is far worse than initially anticipated. Less than 24 hours after Chauncey Billups described the third-year forward as “day-to-day,” the Portland Trail Blazers announced on Thursday that an MRI revealed Little suffered a labral tear in his left shoulder.

An MRI taken January 26 revealed Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little with a left shoulder labral tear, the team announced today…An update on his status will be provided as available.

Little incurred the injury with 8:11 remaining in the fourth quarter of Portland's last-second loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, left writhing in pain on the floor after fighting multiple players for a loose ball. He quickly sat up and walked to the locker room on his own power, though, and was even available to return to the game upon making his way back to the bench for the final minutes of regulation.

The North Carolina product didn't play in the Blazers' blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks 24 hours later, sidelined by what the team deemed a left shoulder strain. After the Minnesota game, Little even copped to overreacting to his initial discomfort, alleviating fears he'd avoided serious injury.

Little has been a bright spot in a wildly uneven season for Portland, establishing himself as a surefire rotation player and viable starter while averaging 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He's played the best basketball of his career in January, averaging 13.1 points and per game and shooting 40.3% from three while filling in for Norman Powell and Larry Nance as a full-time starter.

Though the Blazers provided no timeline for Little's potential recovery, Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam—diagnosed with a torn labrum in his left shoulder—returned to the floor on November 7th after undergoing corrective surgery in early June. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported he's indeed unlikely to return before 2022-23.

Little's season, unfortunately, appears to be over. Combined with Damian Lillard's indefinite absence, the severity of his injury likely increases the possibility that Portland plays for lottery balls than postseason positioning over the next two-and-a-half months.