Portland Trail Blazers fans saw a scary sight on Thursday night. No. 7 pick Shaedon Sharpe, who was making his NBA Summer League debut, had to exit the game after just six minutes of action with a shoulder injury. After the game, the seventh overall pick received an important update on his injury, via Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports and Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report.
Portland Trail Blazers lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe sustained a left shoulder injury tonight that ended his Summer League debut and he is expected to undergo an MRI, league sources tell @YahooSports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 8, 2022
Haynes reports that Shaedon Sharpe will undergo an MRI on his left shoulder. Highkin adds that the Blazers removed Sharpe from the Summer League game for “precautionary reasons.”
Steve Hetzel says Shaedon Sharpe was held out for precautionary reasons after hurting his shoulder early.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) July 8, 2022
The Blazers and their fans will have to hope that it's not something serious. Sharpe wasted no time in jumping right into NBA action, making a tough jumper on the baseline for his first points of the Summer League. In just one play, he showed why Portland was so enamored with him on draft night.
The 19-year-old was the No. 1 recruit in the nation last September after a standout performance at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, where he averaged 22.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 12 games.
Sharpe chose to attend Kentucky, then curiously never played a minute for the Wildcats, opting to practice and focus on his draft stock. Evidently, the strategy paid off, as Sharpe was selected inside the top 10 by the Blazers.
However, this is not the way fans wanted to see his NBA career begin. The Blazers and their fans will wait with bated breath for the results of Shaedon Sharpe's MRI.