The Denver Nuggets got their season off to a great start with a blowout win over the Houston Rockets but since then they have lost their last two games by an average margin of 21 points. The Nuggets are a young team that was expected to have their struggles early this season and they have been true to form. Denver has been without their starting center Jusuf Nurkic for the first three games and although they were hopeful he would be back sometime soon it appears he is further away than they thought, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post.
Head coach Mike Malone initially stated that Nurkic would be back on the court at some point in November, a couple of weeks ago, but he has since changed his stance on that. It still remains possible that Nurkic could be back in November but Malone doesn't sound as confident as he did as he thinks that Nurkic is still "a ways away."
Nurkic underwent knee surgery for a slight tear in the patella tendon in his left knee towards the end of May and was given an initial timetable of three to four months. If that timetable held true Nurkic wouldn't have missed any time but he instead has taken a lot longer than expected to rehab and recover. Nurkic has been practicing but he hasn't been able to get through full practices yet which likely is what prompted Malone's comments and at this point December seems like a more probable return date.
With Nurkic out the Nuggets have been starting Joffrey Lauvergne at center and he has been the Nuggets best player in terms of PER (30.4) through three games. Lauvergne is averaging 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in just 19 minutes per game in Nurkic's place. Nikola Jokic has been backing up Lauvergne and he has also been better than expected as he has averaged 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in just 15.7 minutes per game.
While the Nuggets have been solid at the center position without Nurkic they still need him back for depth purposes at the very least. Nurkic is likely the center of the three that has the highest upside also as shown by his being named to the second team All-Rookie last season. The silver lining here is that the Nuggets have gotten their young centers some valuable playing experience while Nurkic is out but he himself is just 21 and needs the experience as well so this latest news isn't great for Denver.