To use a clinical term, the Denver Nuggets are going through that process right now.
In November, the team lost starting guard Christian Braun to a strained ankle, and then starting forward Aaron Gordon was sidelined with a strained hamstring. Starting forward Cam Johnson was sidelined with them last week with a kneecap contusion.
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Then MVP front-runner Nikola Jokic hyperextended his knee, which will sideline him for at least four weeks. Oh, and the team’s lone remaining starter, Jamal Murray, is dealing with a sprained right ankle but is still a possibility for Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Somehow it got worse.
Jokic’s backup, Jonas Valanciunas, is out for at least four weeks with a strained right calf. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
This is the backup the Nuggets don’t want to lose. Valanciunas came to the team via a trade with the Sacramento Kings this offseason and became the fifth-highest-paid player on the team.
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Any game plan without Jokic would likely see the Lithuanian get plenty of playing time, as rookies De’Aaron Holmes and Zeke Nagy are the only center-like players left on the roster.
In the first full game without Jokic, Valanciunas scored a season-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, plus nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks in a 106-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors. It was in that game that Valanciunas suffered a calf strain 23 minutes into the game.
Neither Jonas Valanciunas nor Nikola Jokic will play for the Nuggets in the near future. (AP Photo/David Zarubowski)
(Associated Press)
The good news for Denver is that while both rotational centers are sidelined, head coach David Adelman said last weekend that Gordon and Braun could return during the seven-game road trip that currently runs through next Wednesday. The coming weeks could still be a challenge for a team that currently sits in third place in the Western Conference with a 23-10 record.