Will Robert Williams III Play? Full Injury Report For Blazers vs Jazz

The Portland Trail Blazers center has an ankle sprain.

Nov 25, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III (35) handles the ball as Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) defends during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers have had a rough go of it this season. They are one of the worst teams in the entire NBA, sitting at 13th in the Western Conference standings. They haven't been able to get anything going this year. In fact, they are on an impressive streak of bad basketball right now.

Portland has lost eight of their last nine games. They are a team that is in a rebuild, but they still were hoping to play better than this so far this year. Some of the players they have drafted over the last few years haven't played as well as they were hoping for at this point in their careers.

One younger player who they acquired via a trade is Robert Williams III. He was part of the Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard trade that sent Lillard to Milwaukee and Holiday to Boston. He is the last holdover from that trade in Portland now that Malcolm Brogdon is in Washington.

Williams III has had injury problems his entire career. Most of them have been knee issues. When he has been on the court, he has shown to be an effective rim-runner and shot-blocker. That's what Portland was hoping that they were getting when they traded for him.

Unfortunately, it hasn't happened that way. The Trail Blazers have only had him available for ten games this season. He was listed as questionable for the Blazers' game against the Utah Jazz with a right ankle sprain, but will not play. He hasn't played since December 21st against the Spurs.

Robert Williams III and Dalano Banton are both out tonight.

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) December 27, 2024

Portland will be playing this game without Chauncey Billups because he will be out because of the death of his grandmother, so they will be shorthanded anyway. Every one of the players will have to step up and try to win one for their coach as he deals with some grief. Unfortunately, winning hasn't been easy for this team.

The Trail Blazers aren't quite bad enough to have the best odds to land the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, but they could get there soon enough. They will be sellers at the deadline to make those odds go up even further. Losing to the Jazz on Thursday night would improve those odds.

Portland has to figure out who is going to be a part of their core moving forward so they can make informed decisions on who to keep at the deadline.

More Trail Blazers news: Blazers Reportedly Starting to 'Field' Trade Offers For Center