League sources have confirmed to NBC Sports that Trail Blazer big man Zach Collins, who is supposed to undergo surgery for a shoulder injury, specifically needs labral repair in his left shoulder.

Surgery is often preferred to decrease the chances of reoccurrence as compared to natural healing.

While no target return date has been set by the team, it will be months, not weeks, until Collins is back in action. A return in time for the playoffs would be a possibility.

Collins left the game against the Mavericks last week after he injured his left shoulder.

With 2:01 left in the third quarter, Collins went up for a rebound. All things looked normal until he made contact with Luka Doncic. Collins came down and instantly put his right hand over his left shoulder.

Then on November 2nd, the team announced that Collins would have surgery:

Portland Trail Blazers forward Zach Collins will undergo surgery to repair his injured left shoulder, it was announced today by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. A date for the procedure is to be determined.

Now the team must move forward in a life without Collins and a depleted frontcourt as Jusuf Nurkic and Pau Gasol continue their rehab process as well.

Stay tuned for as more information becomes available.

Peter Socotch, NBC Sports Producer, also contributed to this report