Nuggets fans' newest hobby this season has become keeping up with medical jargon and deciphering injury reports, but when Shams Charania went on NBA Countdown on ESPN last week, he put things perfectly in layman's terms for everyone, saying that Nikola Jokic had resumed on-court work and was on, or ahead of schedule, to return from his knee injury.
The original timeline that Charania was referencing was a four-week reevaluation from the time of injury on December 29th. That would set a possible return date for Monday, January 26th, and if Jokic was ahead of schedule, as Shams suggested, that could mean a return to play this Sunday, the 25th.
But David Adelman threw some cold water on that notion in his pregame press conference on Tuesday night. DA was talking about Jonas Valanciunas and his return from injury and mentioned, “Immediately, he’ll be, most likely, our starting center,” implying that Jonas will be back before the Joker.
Adelman was asked to clarify that implication and confirmed, “It looks that way now, but I really mean this, tomorrow could be different.” He also said of Jokic, “Nikola has been the same way as Cam, just kind of up and down.”
It doesn’t sound like there have been any setbacks or there’s any real reason for concern, but it also doesn’t sound like Jokic is mere days from getting back in the lineup. The dream of an early return, or even a return after four weeks now, feels like a long shot, and it seems Jokic may not be as far along in his recovery as we were led to believe.
Jokic return date now up in the air
Perhaps Adelman was just being coy, but that’s not really his M.O. It seems more likely that Jokic was pushing hard to come back, and his body may not be responding as well as he had hoped. Another possibility is that Adelman and the entire organization have read the room and realize the team is playing some exceptional ball.
Surprisingly, they actually have the luxury of giving Jokic extra rest and holding him out until he is 100% healthy and fresh. They’re winning games, and they’re getting to see guys all over the roster step up and show what they can do. In a way, this has been a dream scenario as they’ve gotten to get Jokic some time off while the supporting cast gels and comes together, all while winning games and climbing up the standings in the process.
MVP and All-NBA shouldn’t factor into Jokic injury decisions at all
As for awards and honors and the 65-game limit? Maybe it’s for the best if the team holds Jokic out until he misses the cut. Even if he is able to return on time, he will have the 65-game rule lingering over his head, and there will likely be outside and internal pressure to overdo it and play more than necessary just to hit an arbitrary benchmark.
While it would certainly be obnoxious to see him miss out on All-NBA and another top 2 MVP finish, it’s probably for the best of the team and their ultimate goal. Another Finals MVP would trump any other award or honor Jokic could possibly achieve, after all.
The last thing we want to see is an exhausted Joker gutting it out through the final games of the regular season to hit 65 games, only to limp into the playoffs. At the end of the day, this extended injury absence may end up saving Jokic from himself and may ultimately save the Nuggets’ season.