WOJ: Al-Farouq Aminu has suffered a torn meniscus, out indefinitely.

[Knightro]

Considering this was the worst year of Aminu's career offensively by a pretty wide margin, it makes you wonder if this injury happened in the last game or if it's something that's been bothering him for a while.

Curious what Clifford does in the rotation now. I'd imagine it will look more like last year with Gordon playing backup PF when he's not in at SF and Iwundu playing more.

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[Max Power]

Adding a top 5 pick and Okeke to a healthy version of this roster would be nice. No reason to not trade away Aminu with Okeke being able to best his contribution next season. Can we get a catalog with some guard information please?? I’m fine for trading Aminu for a 2 liter of Dr. Publix soda and an expired gift card to Sbarro.

[pepe1991]

Sings 3 years contract, plays like crap, gets hurt. Ugh

That's the way to do it if you want to make money and not really play basketball anymore!

This sounds like the same speculation that some of the fans on this board had about Fultz in the summer.

It's possible the guy's knee has been part of the reason he's struggled. He'll probably be closer to the player we thought we were getting when he comes back.


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No , nothing was wrong with him from health perspective prior, he just played without McCullum and Lillard for first time in years and he simply isn't good player in situation where somebody guards him.

So one more time, Magic signed defensive minded player without much talent when you move away from lenght and effort level on defense.

[TheGlyde]

I don't wish ill on any player, but I was starting to hope that in certain matchups his minutes could be given to Birch once Vuc returns. I like Birch (for what he is) and don't want to see him relegated back to the DNP-CD...

Still, Come back bigger and better please Aminu.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Awful. I hope he makes a full recovery. There’s no silver lining to anyone getting hurt and their careers threatened. Remember there are posters in here who like seeing players get injured. I’m glad the majority are classy humans.

[JRoy]

I never encourage an injury on any player but this is not big loss. Aminu has been awful. Aside from decent defender he hurts the team more by being out there. This was a horrible signing. See him being traded before the contract is up.

True.

Still hate to hear it. Blazers really miss his d.

[RookieStar]

I never encourage an injury on any player but this is not big loss. Aminu has been awful. Aside from decent defender he hurts the team more by being out there. This was a horrible signing. See him being traded before the contract is up.

True.

Still hate to hear it. Blazers really miss his d.

Melo for Aminu. We get the alpha chucke..errr scorer in the SF spot while POR gets their D back.

Who says no?

[Xatticus]

I never encourage an injury on any player but this is not big loss. Aminu has been awful. Aside from decent defender he hurts the team more by being out there. This was a horrible signing. See him being traded before the contract is up.

True.

Still hate to hear it. Blazers really miss his d.

Melo for Aminu. We get the alpha chucke..errr scorer in the SF spot while POR gets their D back.

Who says no?

The league. Us. The Blazers.

Anthony was just signed. He can't be traded for three months. The salaries don't match.

If we wanted Anthony, we would've signed him when he was a free agent.

The Blazers didn't want to pay Aminu. That's why they didn't re-sign him.

[JRoy]

True.

Still hate to hear it. Blazers really miss his d.

Melo for Aminu. We get the alpha chucke..errr scorer in the SF spot while POR gets their D back.

Who says no?

The league. Us. The Blazers.

Anthony was just signed. He can't be traded for three months. The salaries don't match.

If we wanted Anthony, we would've signed him when he was a free agent.

The Blazers didn't want to pay Aminu. That's why they didn't re-sign him.

Portland didn’t re sign him for the same reason Orlando has buyers remorse; he cannot shoot with any kind of consistency. That was a real problem in the playoffs.

[RookieStar]

I never encourage an injury on any player but this is not big loss. Aminu has been awful. Aside from decent defender he hurts the team more by being out there. This was a horrible signing. See him being traded before the contract is up.

True.

Still hate to hear it. Blazers really miss his d.

Melo for Aminu. We get the alpha chucke..errr scorer in the SF spot while POR gets their D back.

Who says no?

[JRoy]

I never encourage an injury on any player but this is not big loss. Aminu has been awful. Aside from decent defender he hurts the team more by being out there. This was a horrible signing. See him being traded before the contract is up.

True.

Still hate to hear it. Blazers really miss his d.

Melo for Aminu. We get the alpha chucke..errr scorer in the SF spot while POR gets their D back.

Who says no?

Portland, and quickly.

Of course FAA will be our indefinitely and Melo can’t be traded for about 3 months so the question is moot in any case.

You can have Hezonja back for free. Dude is the trashiest of trash.

[basketballRob]

Portland had no money to sign anyone. They had a good thing with Aminu and Harkless.

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[pepe1991]

In numbers

4,3ppg
4,8 rpg
29% FG
25% for 3
65% FTs

you really can't make this thing up, guy played below expected performance for G league callup.

[Knightro]

Aminu played good defense and rebounded well. He just couldn't make a shot from anywhere.

I don't think it's necessarily fair to chalk it up to not playing with Lillard/McCollum either because Aminu simply has never been a player to shoot ball if he's not open/wide open.

Last year Chief shot 36.5% on wide open threes. This year? He's shooting 15.8% on wide open threes.

The issue appears to be playing time and the inability for Aminu to get into a rhythm with reduced playing time.

Here's Aminu's shooting numbers for his career based on minutes played per game...

40+ MPG: .529 FG%, .500 3PT%, .612 TS%, 118 ORTG
30-39 MPG: .438 FG%, .358 3PT%, .539 TS%, 107 ORTG
20-29 MPG: .422 FG%, .337 3PT%, .523 TS%, 102 ORTG
10-19 MPG: .344 FG%, .205 3PT%, .419 TS%, 86 ORTG

Here's his shooting numbers as a starter v. off the bench

Starter: .426 FG%, .349 3PT%, .523 TS%, 103 ORTG
Reserve: .407 FG%, .294 3PT%, .503 TS%, 98 ORTG

Maybe it's completely a coincidence, but the three games this season Aminu has played over 26 minutes the Magic are 3-0 and he has been a positive +/- in all three games.

Perhaps the Magic's front office made a miscalculation on how effective Aminu would be playing 20 minutes a night off the bench.

Or maybe they signed him (and drafted Okeke) with the full intention of inevitably trading away Aaron Gordon.

[fendilim]

Aminu played good defense and rebounded well. He just couldn't make a shot from anywhere.

I don't think it's necessarily fair to chalk it up to not playing with Lillard/McCollum either because Aminu simply has never been a player to shoot ball if he's not open/wide open.

Last year Chief shot 36.5% on wide open threes. This year? He's shooting 15.8% on wide open threes.

The issue appears to be playing time and the inability for Aminu to get into a rhythm with reduced playing time.

Here's Aminu's shooting numbers for his career based on minutes played per game...

40+ MPG: .529 FG%, .500 3PT%, .612 TS%, 118 ORTG
30-39 MPG: .438 FG%, .358 3PT%, .539 TS%, 107 ORTG
20-29 MPG: .422 FG%, .337 3PT%, .523 TS%, 102 ORTG
10-19 MPG: .344 FG%, .205 3PT%, .419 TS%, 86 ORTG

Here's his shooting numbers as a starter v. off the bench

Starter: .426 FG%, .349 3PT%, .523 TS%, 103 ORTG
Reserve: .407 FG%, .294 3PT%, .503 TS%, 98 ORTG

Maybe it's completely a coincidence, but the three games this season Aminu has played over 26 minutes the Magic are 3-0 and he has been a positive +/- in all three games.

Perhaps the Magic's front office made a miscalculation on how effective Aminu would be playing 20 minutes a night off the bench.

Or maybe they signed him (and drafted Okeke) with the full intention of inevitably trading away Aaron Gordon.

I think we also have to consider that Aminu is being used differently in this team. Aminu is a very limited offensive player, and we're asking him to post up, sometimes create or even make top of the key passes. Thats just not his game. Aminu is a 3 and D guy. Let him stand in the corner.

[SD2042]

So many injuries. Hoping Fultz and Isaac remain healthy. But this is a pretty bad year in terms of injury.

To me, all these injuries that are happening around the league are due to the way the style of basketball has change itself. The demand of the Euroball is growing more wear and tear on the players than it normally should.

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/basketball/basketball-sports-science-keeping-pace-with-nbas-increased-pace

https://www.blazersedge.com/2019/11/14/20964074/so-many-nba-injuries-trail-blazers (24:30 to get into the conversation)

https://us.blastingnews.com/sports/2018/04/how-the-pace-of-nba-basketball-has-changed-002507131.html

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-teams-are-playing-at-a-breakneck-pace-scoring-like-crazy-and-its-not-going-to-stop-any-time-soon/

[ezzzp]

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https://fansided.com/2019/12/02/al-farouq-aminu-meniscus-surgery/

"Treating the injury conservatively (i.e. physical rehabilitation without surgery) focuses on improving range of motion of the knee and decreasing pain during basketball activities. While the tear will not heal on its own, there is increasing evidence that treating tears conservatively may be just as effective as treating them with a meniscectomy, though more data is needed, particularly involving elite athletes, before conclusions can be made. Similar to meniscectomies, the recovery timeline for meniscus tears treated conservatively is typically four-to-six weeks, however, there is always the chance that conservative rehabilitation fails; failed treatment would essentially involve pain that does not diminish during basketball activities (i.e. running, jumping, cutting) or an inability to regain full range of motion and lower extremity strength. Athletes and teams run the risk of an additional four-to-six weeks being added to the recovery timeline if conservative rehabilitation fails."

[NBlue]

Portland had no money to sign anyone. They had a good thing with Aminu and Harkless.

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This. 100%.

Aminu was actually a perfect fit for Portland. Smart big who doesn't need the ball in his hands and can defend like crazy and will get you junk baskets is a great fit on a team with 2 elite guard scorers. Sadly, we have 0 elite guard scorers and 2 other guys that are rather similar to Aminu so what he brings to us is not nearly as valuable. To me, it really makes little sense in him being here unless we are anticipating another move. For example, if we were about to trade AG & Bamba to GSW for Deangelo then his presence would make a lot of sense.