NBA Notes: Sharpe injury blow for Blazers, Nuggets face cap squeeze, Beverley cleared

Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left fibula and will be reevaluated in four to six weeks, the team announced.

Sharpe has not played since February 6, when the injury was initially labeled a left calf strain before follow-up imaging revealed the fracture. Given the timeline, Sharpe is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

The 21-old is averaging a career-high 21.4 points per game and ranks second on the team in scoring. He signed a four-year, $90 million rookie-scale extension in October that begins next season.

The injury is a significant setback for Portland, which sits ninth in the Western Conference and is aiming to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

• Financial pressure is building in Denver. Bennett Durando of The Denver Post reports that the Nuggets are likely to face a difficult roster decision this offseason as they attempt to re-sign restricted free agent Peyton Watson, who has enjoyed a breakout season. Denver has treated the second tax apron as a practical hard cap, and keeping Watson may require the team to shed salary elsewhere. According to Durando, league sources believe Cam Johnson is viewed internally as the most likely trade candidate should the Nuggets need to create additional flexibility.

• Veteran guard Patrick Beverley, currently playing for PAOK BC in Greece, will not face charges following a November arrest in Texas related to a domestic incident. Scooby Axson and Jim Reineking of USA Today report that a grand jury returned a no-bill after determining there was insufficient evidence to proceed. Beverley had been accused of assaulting his teenage sister. “He is glad that the process was allowed to work as it did and his hope is that with these charges behind him now, his name and reputation will be restored,” Beverley’s attorneys said in a statement.