Trail Blazers Injury Report: Robert Williams Supplies New Recovery Timeline

Portland center Robert Williams revealed when he could rejoin the team.

Sep 30, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III (35). Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III could be back on the court sooner rather than later. Williams said that he is optimistic that he will be on the court for the Trail Blazers season opener against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 23. 

"They gave me a two-week timeline," he said following Tuesday's practice. "We'll see."

"I feel good," Williams said. "Working out a little bit more. Ramping up a little bit more."

Williams went into detail about how he is ramping up to be on the court.

"They got me ramping back on court now," Williams told reporters in Portland. "Hamstring's kind of sensitive, so when it first happens, you gotta take it lightly. Doing different strength tests, passing it, checking those boxes to get on the court obviously. I've been on the court the past two days ramping up." 

"Gotta pass a couple more checkpoints, ramp up a little bit more. Obviously, conditioning on the bike as much as I can, weights as much as I can. And trying to meet the requirements, for sure."

Williams was recently diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain last Friday and that he would miss two weeks. If he sticks with that timeline, he should be ready to go for the season opener. 

Williams has struggled with staying healthy throughout his career. Out of a possible 492 games in his career, he has only played in 43 percent of games, coming out to 215 games. 

The 26-year-old was dealt to the Trail Blazers from Boston in the Jrue Holiday trade just before the art of training camp last year. He only played in six games for Portland last season, where he averaged 6.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 19.8 minutes before he suffered a patellar dislocation after colliding with Jaren Jackson Jr. on the Blazers game against the Memphis Grizzlies. 

Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups expects Williams to be fine and blamed his hamstring injury on his ramp-up from his knee injury. 

“He hadn’t played, and it’s just that ramp-up,” Billups said. “That’s kind of a normal thing. To go from working out all summer to now, you’re actually playing, getting up and down. It’s kind of normal.”

When healthy, Williams is one of the best defensive-minded big men who averages 1.7 blocks in his career and was named to the 2022 All-Defensive Team. 

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