Blazers’ CJ McCollum out with collapsed lung, no timetable for return

Portland is already without Damian Lillard right now as he rests the abdominal injury that has been an issue for him since the Tokyo Olympics.

Now the Trail Blazers’ other star starting guard, CJ McCollum, is out with a pneumothorax — a collapsed right lung — and there is no timetable for his return. From the official press release:

Upon further examination, a CT scan revealed that Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum has a pneumothorax (right lung), the team announced today. McCollum sustained the injury during the 4th quarter of Portland’s game versus Boston on December 4.

He will be further evaluated before a prognosis is determined and his status will be updated accordingly.

How long McCollum will be out depends on how significant the lung injury is — how much of the area outside the lung in the chest cavity is filled with air — but he will likely miss a couple of weeks, as described by Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes.

During the 2008-09 season forward Gerald Wallace fractured his fifth rib which resulted in a collapsed lung. The injury was significant and required a chest tube to drain the air from around Wallace’s injured left lung. Houston big man Terrence Jones also suffered the combination of rib and lung injuries during the 2014-15 season. Neither player missed a considerable amount of time as Wallace was sidelined for seven games and Jones was back in six.

McCollum started the season fast but has seen his production fall as the season has worn on, averaging 20.6 points a game, shooting 39.3% from 3, and adding 4.5 assists a night. McCollum’s name also has come up in trade speculation as the Trail Blazers search for a new general manager.