Washington Wizards em Portland Trail Blazers

General manager Will Dawkins said Thursday that Sarr is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season, so the limited workload to begin camp appears precautionary. Sarr underwent surgery in mid-June, and his progress during the preseason will be worth monitoring, but there currently doesn't appear to be significant concern about his availability for Opening Night.

Watkins, a two-way player for the Wizards, suffered the injury during the Summer League. Although Washington has yet to offer a timetable for a return, a typical recovery time for the procedure is approximately 9-to-12 months. That leaves Watkins in serious jeopardy of missing most, if not all, of the 2026-27 season, and it remains to be seen if the team will continue keeping him around on a two-way roster spot while he's injured.

Although the big man will remain a limited participant in training camp as he continues his rehab from a hip impingement, it sounds like his absence from game action will extend into the regular season. Deandre Ayton should have the backup center role all to himself until Vukcevic is cleared to retake the floor.

It's a tough blow to the Trail Blazers' depth on the wing ahead of training camp. Sharpe, who is now likely to be sidelined until after the All-Star break, had been ticketed for a reserve role behind Toumani Camara following an injury-plagued 2025-26 campaign, which saw average a career-high 20.8 points, 1.4 steals and 2.1 three-pointers per game over 50 regular-season appearances. The door is now open for Vit Krejci and Jeremy Sochan to compete for bench minutes during camp.