Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday that Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap will undergo surgery on his left wrist and will be out indefinitely.
Denver All-Star forward Paul Millsap will undergo surgery on his left wrist and be sidelined indefinitely, league sources say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2017
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Millsap has a torn ligament and the resulting surgery could leave the big man out for three months.
Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap's surgery will be to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist and could sideline him for three months, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2017
This is a crushing blow to the Denver Nuggets, who had steadily improved their play since starting out the season with a rough patch. Millsap had become the second leading scorer on the team at 15.3 points per game. However, it’s defensively where the Nuggets will feel the biggest impact as the addition of Millsap helped the Nuggets improve from 30th ranked to 17th ranked defense so far this season.
It will be interesting to see how the Nuggets adjust. Against the Sacramento Kings, Nikola Jokic stepped up his leadership and became more vocal because that is what the team needed. It will be up to Jokic, Gary Harris and other Nuggets veterans to lead the team through this period with Millsap out. In his place it will be likely we see Kenneth Faried see a return to the starting lineup, much as he was against the Kings.
Millsap, the $90 million free agent signee this past offseason was a big part of the Nuggets’ plans this season. The hope is that the 6-foot-9 power forward will be able to come back strong. The problem is, when will that be?
The Denver Nuggets play the Houston Rockets Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in Houston.
For more insight on the injury to Millsap watch the video below from Aniello Piro.
#Nuggets lose All-Star Paul Millsap to wrist injury https://t.co/LY6onDqydS
— Aniello Piro (@MediaByAP) November 21, 2017