After what felt like a fairly nightmarish start to the season for the Denver Nuggets, things have calmed down considerably. The injuries were piling up, the young players were struggling, and the bench, as a whole, looked dreadful.
But thanks in large part to the ever-steady presence of Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets righted the ship and things don’t look so bad. Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, and Julian Strawther all seem to be coming along nicely, Russell Westbrook has been able to make a positive impact, and Michael Porter Jr. seems to be taking the leap we all hoped for.
If anything, the last thing to fall into place for the team has been the play of the two complementary stars; Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. Murray’s issues have been long chronicled. Between his nagging health concerns and overall poor play and shooting, the season has been a bit of a grind.
It seems like he is rounding into shape and has had a couple of solid games recently, but he still looks far from the best version of Jamal Murray. As for Gordon, the issue hasn’t necessarily been his play, but his health.
Gordon played (mostly) well for the team’s first seven games of the season, but left very early in the November 4th game with the Raptors and did not return. Gordon was diagnosed with a calf injury and was ruled out indefinitely, to be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks.
Aaron Gordon without a timetable to return
We finally received an update on Monday night ahead of the Nuggets’ game against the Knicks. Michael Malone told the media that there is “no timetable” for Gordon to return from his calf strain.
This is obviously not what fans want to hear at all as he’s been sidelined for almost a month already. The Nuggets are already hurting on depth, especially in the frontcourt, and Gordon’s absence isn’t helping. Fans would love to see Mr. Nugget back out there.
But on the other hand, the long-term health of the team is paramount and there is no reason to rush Gordon along. Hopefully, his recovery is going fine and the team is just being extremely cautious; ensuring that he will return at 100%.
Beyond that, they can survive without Gordon in the interim. Rushing him back for regular season games would be crazy and ill-advised even if losses start to pile up. Furthermore, it's great to give this extended opportunity to Watson as the starting power forward.
Guys are going to have to continue to step up while Gordon is out, but perhaps this will provide them with the repetitions and confidence they need. For the glass half-full Nuggets fans, let’s hope this whole situation turns out to be a blessing in disguise.