Brandon Roy … Out?

by Marcel Mutoni

On Wednesday, John Canzano of The Oregonian suggested that Brandon Roy could require corrective surgery to fix his right heel. After hurting it again in practice on Tuesday, the reigning Rookie of the Year could end up missing all eight preseason games. The franchise says that surgery, for the time being anyhow, is not an option they’re ready to explore.

Though Roy wants to play, his coach Nate McMillan wants to shelve the shooting guard for now, and have him ready for the season opener.

“Right now, my thought is he won’t play in the preseason,” McMillan said. “(The exhibition schedule) is not important. What is important is that we have him for the season.”

The good news just keeps rolling in for Blazers fans!

Seriously though, is there a more depressed group of NBA fans right now than the people residing in Portland? I mean, sure, the Knicks are a bigger calamity, but their fans already expected the worst from the franchise. When you’re bracing for the Apocalypse, it’s a little bit easier to accept things like a coach who’s been found guilty of sexually harassing a coworker and a point guard who smashes interns in the back of his truck.

Blazers fans, though? They’ve been completely blindsided: They went from the ultimate high when they lucked into Greg Oden (only to see him go down for the year), and now their best player has a bum wheel and no one seems to know exactly how long he’ll be out for.

Might as well start preparing for the 2009 season.