Denver Nuggets: 5 Injured Players’ Potential and Status

It’s well known that the Denver Nuggets are in the middle of one of the most damaging injury periods in their history. We want to look at some details.

First, while researching this article we ran into barrier after barrier with regards to the Denver Nuggets and more specifically Michael Malone.  For whatever reason, they refuse to give timelines on injured players.  They also won’t give details on the injuries, the surgeries/remedies applied or prognosis.

It’s really frustrating.

It also doesn’t make much sense.  What is the point of the mysterious, ultra-secret injury status update?  Maybe it’s just a quirky Malone thing but for many of us that have years of suffering NuggLife under out belts, it is a maddening display.

While NBA twitter works out their boredom with silly trade scenarios, the only additions the Nuggets should worry about are their own injured players.

For players like Michael Porter and Jarred Vanderbilt, it’s a bit easier to stomach.  Vanderbilt is on his third foot injury and has had two surgeries on his injured foot.  A top prospect, he played just 14 games at Kentucky because of the foot injuries so he is truly a wild card.  Worth noting that Vanderbilt was drafted at the same spot (41) as Nikola Jokic.

Porter has also had a pair of surgeries on his lower back.  He claimed to be pain-free during Summer camp in San Diego and we’ve seen video of him shooting, jumping and moving with no apparent ill effects from his back issues but still the Nuggets will give either no or guarded updates on his health and the prospects of his playing.

There’s a narrative that says to bring along these injured rookies slowly which I also do not understand.  If they can play, they should play.  There is no value in healthy players in street clothes.

The big players and big injuries have a little more information out there.  We want to look at the six injured Nuggets and their impact when healthy.  We’ll also share any information we can gather on their injuries and timeline for return.  They are ranked by importance to the team: