The star of the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic, is nearing a return.
Jokic has resumed on-court workouts and is tracking ahead of his initial recovery timeline from a hyperextended left knee, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“Nikola Jokic has resumed on-court workouts for Denver, and he’s right on schedule, if not a little bit ahead of schedule, for making his return to the lineup by the end of this month,” Charania reported Wednesday. “That’s about that four-week initial early timetable that they had. The Nuggets are optimistic… he’s making great progress, rapid progress.”
The three-time MVP has not played since Dec. 29, when he exited the Nuggets’ game in Miami at halftime with the injury. Charania had previously reported that Jokic was “rehabbing around the clock,” keeping alive hopes for a late-January return. Though the initial official word from the team was not a four-week return but a reevaluation in four weeks — meaning, given the good news, a return this month seems plausible.
The Nuggets have gone 5-3 since losing Big Honey, the best stretch they have played without Jokic since drafting him. They’ve been carried by Jamal Murray’s ascension to All-Star consideration and Peyton Watson’s West Player of the Week level.
Of coruse the Nuggets have been much better with Jokic, and healthy, going 12-3 to start the season before Christian Braun then Aaron Gordon and then Cameron Johnson got hurt. Braun and Gordon have returned in recent weeks, while Jokic has sat. There has still been no update on Johnson, who suffered a similar bone bruise to Jokic.
The speedy timeline for Jokic is huge for postseason awards. Before the injury, he was leading the MVP race via averaging 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 11.0 assists while shooting 60.5 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from 3-point range. He led the league in both rebounds and assists. Jokic, who had not missed a game this season until this knee issue, will have to miss 17 games or fewer to be eligible for MVP or All-NBA honors. He has missed eight games thus far.
If he somehow comes back four weeks after the injury, he will only miss 15 games and be back for the Pistons game on Jan. 27, which starts a four-game homestand, ending with the Nuggets’ first matchup against the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder this season.
Because of the recent struggles of the Thunder and other West teams, the Nuggets’ strong play without Jokic and the MVP’s quick timeline, Denver is still alive for basically anything seed-wise at the halfway point of the season. The Nuggets play their 41st game on Wednesday night in Dallas.
