ESPN's Tim MacMahon said on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast that the Denver Nuggets sent a trainer with Aaron Gordon when he returned to Orlando for the All-Star break. He mentioned that the forward participated in parts of the team's practice after the break and that AG is dunking and playing one-on-one. All of that is great news.
MacMahon said that when the Nuggets return from their current road trip, which will end with a stop in Golden State on Sunday evening, they will look to progress Gordon to three-on-three, four-on-four, and five-on-five. He noted how Denver is cautious with AG, given this is his second hamstring injury of the season (you can't forget his hamstring injury in last year's playoffs), so he thinks it will still be a couple of weeks until the forward returns to action.
Aaron Gordon could return in a couple of weeks for the Nuggets
Maybe, just maybe, Gordon will be back when the Nuggets go to Oklahoma City on March 9 to take on the Thunder. That is over a couple of weeks away, but of course, it's not set in stone that he'll return within that timeline. It's just a prediction based on how AG is progressing.
Denver will play its final regular-season game on April 12, so it'd be nice for Gordon to return around a month before then. Don't expect David Adelman to have AG out there for 30+ minutes per game right away, as the goal is to have him get to the playoffs without limping there. It would be great if he could use the last few weeks to work his way up to where he was.
His presence will help the Nuggets' push to secure a top seed in the West for homecourt advantage. They currently sit No. 4, right behind the Rockets, and one game ahead of the No. 5 Lakers.
Denver has actually performed better on the road this season (20-10 versus 15-11), but homecourt advantage means more to it than other teams, as it also gives the team an altitude advantage. It's also a bonus, of course, to be in front of your rowdy home crowd in the postseason when the environment is ramped up several notches.
What matters more to the Nuggets than homecourt advantage is getting Gordon back. Everyone knows how important he is to Denver, and those who don't just need to refer back to last year's playoffs. Hopefully, more of those moments will come our way, starting in April.