When Will Barton went down with what was perceived as a groin or hip injury to his right side in the third quarter of the Denver Nuggets 119-91 obliteration of the Phoenix Suns, things looked bleak for the Nuggets starting small forward. He was unable to walk off the floor under his own power and needed a medical cart to roll him back to the locker room. Every video that surfaced showed Barton in what seemed to be agonizing pain.
There was much speculation to what Barton may have done to himself. The worst-case scenario is a torn labrum in his hip. That injury could sideline Barton for anywhere from five-to-nine months which would effectively end his season. The best-case scenario is just a strain of some kind.
Thankfully, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Barton received the good news that he avoided tearing his groin or his labrum in his hip. Barton did strain his groin, and he will be out for an extended amount of time, but that is a significantly less devastating diagnosis than what could have been.
Groin strains generally take two-to-eight weeks to fully recover depending on the severity, which is not known at this time. His timetable to return is currently unknown.
For now, it will be Juancho Hernangomez, Malik Beasley, and Torrey Craig receiving an uptick in minutes, but Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has yet to tip his hand when it comes to who starts at small forward. Craig has experience in the starting lineup after filling in for Gary Harris for the last two weeks of the 2017-18 season and brings a, increased level of defensive versatility. Malone has consistently trusted Craig with big minutes in big moments which seemingly puts Craig ahead of Hernangomez and Beasley for the starting role.
Still, this is as good of news as could be hoped for considering how bad the injury could have been.
