The Denver Nuggets have high hopes for their 2014 first round pick Jusuf Nurkic and he showed some signs last season that he could develop into a solid NBA player. Year two is always a big one for a player in the NBA and it seems as though Nurkic will be at a bit of a disadvantage as he is still recovering from knee surgery. Nurkic will not be ready for training camp and may be forced to miss some regular season time, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Nurkic played last season with pain in his left knee but it wasn't until after the season that he got an MRI which revealed he had a partially torn patella tendon. Nurkic got surgery immediately in May and was given a four month timetable at the time. Four months would put him on track for training camp and despite the fact that Nurkic is reportedly ahead of schedule the Nuggets aren't going to rush anything.
Nurkic is just starting to get back to working out on the court so with training camp less than a week away there is no chance he will be ready. The bigger question is whether he will be ready for the regular season which starts in a little more than a month. Nurkic is just 21 years old and the Nuggets see him as a key future piece so they will not rush anything with him. If they have any doubt at all about his health heading into the season they will hold him out so missing regular season time is certainly possible for Nurkic.
While Nuggets fans would love to see Nurkic out on the floor to start the season, the good news is he is the only player that won't be ready for training camp. Everyone else expected at Nuggets training camp will participate when it opens on Tuesday and only Danilo Gallinari and Joffrey Lauvergne will be limited but that is due to the fact that they played in Eurobasket this summer.
As a rookie a year ago Nurkic played in 62 games (27 starts) and averaged 6.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in just 17.8 minutes per game. The 6 foot-11 center only shot 45 percent from the field but he was still extremely productive in very little playing time so if you extrapolate those numbers he can be a double-double machine. When Nurkic gets back healthy it is very plausible that he takes over as the starting center next to Kenneth Faried but while he is out Lauvergne may see that action unless they decide to go small to start.
