Following a disastrous start to the regular season, the Nuggets’ bench has leveled up and managed to at least tread water in recent games. Russell Westbrook has become a stabilizing presence as a sixth man while Peyton Watson has provided strong defense off the bench and Julian Strawther has brought an offensive spark.
Still, the bench and overall depth are clearly weaknesses for Denver and it’s no coincidence that the team craters whenever Nikola Jokic has to take a seat. The same issues we anticipated coming into the season are still prevalent; they lack frontcourt depth and shooting.
One player who the Nuggets hoped would be able to help in both regards was Vlatko Cancar. Cancar missed last season with a torn ACL but worked his way back and re-signed with the Nuggets in the offseason. In theory, he could provide some much-needed size and shooting off the bench.
But playing in just his fourth game of the season, Cancar sprained his knee in the Nuggets’ November 19th game against the Raptors. Cancar missed the rest of the game and was ruled out indefinitely. Given his recent injury history, many were assuming that Vlatko was lost for the season - and this could possibly even be the end of his NBA career.
Cancar undergoes surgery and will be re-evaluated in 8 weeks
On Wednesday it was reported that Cancar underwent successful arthroscopic knee surgery and he will be re-evaluated in 8 weeks. All things considered, this seems like great news for Vlatko and the Nuggets.
Of course, this means that he will be out for at least another two months, but it also means that there is a chance he’ll return this season. Eight weeks from the surgery would bring us to early February and put us right around the NBA trade deadline.
If Cancar’s recovery goes well, he could play the part of a nice little deadline addition in Denver. The team has very limited resources to make a trade and they desperately need a talent upgrade. Perhaps, that upgrade is already on the roster in the form of the injured Slovenian forward.
Hopefully, the Nuggets aren’t banking on this happening or counting on Vlatko to be some savior for the bench. Even if he comes back, he’ll be returning freshly off a second major knee surgery in two years and he was never more than a fringe rotation player to begin with.
However, this is encouraging news overall, and at this point, any production the Nuggets can get from Cancar this season would be a massive bonus.