Like a lot of teams at this time of the year, the Denver Nuggets are showing some wear and tear. Here’s the latest news on the injury front as the Nuggets get set to take on the Utah Jazz Friday night:
- Center Jusuf Nurkic, who suffered a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 110-96 loss to the Phoenix Suns Wednesday, definitely won’t play Friday. Though X-Rays were negative, it might be a while before he’s back on the court.
- Wilson Chandler has sat out the past two games with groin and thigh soreness, and he may or may not be back against the Jazz.
- Addition updates from Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post regarding forwards Kenneth Faried (who didn’t play versus the Suns because of a strained thumb) and Darrell Arthur (who suffered a knee strain just three minutes into Wednesday’s loss):
Kenneth Faried (thumb), who missed Wednesday’s game, is likely to play vs. the Jazz. #Nuggets
— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) February 26, 2015
Darrell Arthur’s knee strain is revised to a calf strain and he is doubtful for tomorrow’s game vs. Utah.
— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) February 26, 2015
That’s a lot of beat up big men, though again, it’s not an uncommon thing for this time of year in the NBA – and it’s nowhere close to the MASH unit that last year turned into. That being said, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if the Nuggets chose to let those players take plenty of time to heal.
Obviously the Nuggets want Nurkic on the court as much as possible in order for him to progress, but in terms of Chandler, Arthur, Faried, those players are known commodities, and for better or worse, they’re a big part of Denver’s best rotation. And the Nuggets, at this point in the season, are better served by A) Evaluating young/unknown players, B) Working Danilo Gallinari back into shape and, C) Losing as many games as possible.
Denver is getting closer and closer to the top of the tank rankings. It’s not like the team was winning with a fully healthy roster, but easing their injured players back into the lineup as carefully as possible would all but guarantee they rise (fall?) one or two more spots.
There’s plenty of precedent in the NBA for this kind of behavior, and it’s not like the Nuggets need Ty Lawson to come down with a phantom injury. They’re still losing plenty of games as things are now. But head coach Brain Shaw could sure stand to cut down on Lawson’s minutes (he’s third in the NBA in minutes-per-game), and instead of constantly shifting lineups around in the middle of every blowout, just ride the young guns, newcomers, and Gallinari as much as possible.
There’s no point in watching the same Nuggets roster head out and struggle the rest of the way this season. The team’s veterans need to appear enough to prove their healthy so that their trade value isn’t dinged during this years draft, and that’s it.
Other than that though, they should absolutely get healthy, and feel free to take their sweet time proving it.
Zach Marburger is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached via email at zmarburger@milehighsports.com or on Twitter @BurchBurger.