The Denver Nuggets are 12-20 so far this season but believe it or not they are just 2.5 games out of the eighth spot in th Western Conference. Considering all of the injuries they have suffered already this season the Nuggets have actually been pretty impressive. Last season's starting center Jusuf Nurkic has not played yet this season and fans have been clamoring for his return. It seems like they might get their wish this weekend, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Nurkic underwent surgery on a partially torn patellar tendon back in May and he has been working hard to get back. The timetable for his return has been all over the place this season as there was hope he might return as early as November but now a return seems very close. Nurkic has been doing some stuff in practice recently but has yet to go through a full practice. The hope is that he will be able to make it through practice on Friday so that he could play Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.
"I hope so, I'll try my best. I can't wait, I don't want to hurry, but I really can't wait to play. It's just too long," said Nurkic about his impending return.
Head coach Mike Malone wouldn't say definitively that Nurkic would return this week and he has his concerns. Malone is unsure if Nurkic is in the proper shape to be able to play in an NBA game right now so he doesn't want to just throw him back in the fold. Malone also mentioned it might be tough to bring him back against the best team in the league.
As a result of Malone's concerns, when Nurkic returns, whether that's Saturday or some other time, he will likely be on a minutes restriction in the beginning. The Nuggets will likely limit him to about 15 minutes per game in the beginning just so that he gets his legs under him. In Nurkic's absence the Nuggets have gotten fine play from centers Nikola Jokic and Joffrey Lauvergne but having Nurkic back just gives them more options.
Last season as a rookie, the 21 year old Nurkic was very impressive as he averaged 6.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game but was most impressive on defense. Nurkic is a true rim protector as he averaged 2.2 blocks per 36 minutes a season ago and that defensive presence will be nice to have. Malone will have to decide how he wants to rotate his bigs once Nurkic is back as they will be really deep in the frontcourt but as they always say, that is a good problem to have.
