Nuggets forward Spencer Jones told reporters, including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Link to Twitter) — on Sunday that he is on track to play in Thursday’s regular-season opener at Oklahoma City.
Jones corrected his hamstring during training camp earlier in the month and then underwent an MRI which revealed strain The 25-year-old was able to participate in the scrimmage during Sunday’s training, notes Durando.
Several reserves got playing time during the preseason while Jones rehabbed. Head coach David Adelman said Sunday that he might use a “fake” 11-man rotation to open the season and Trevon Brazile, Bryce Hopkins and Cam Whitmore as candidates for receiving point protocols (Link to video on Twitter via DNVR Nuggets).
“If the first half doesn’t work out, there’s somebody you say, “Why don’t we turn it around and play them in the third quarter?”Adelman said.A small number of minutes, but just change them. … You can’t be afraid to throw these guys out.”
Brazil’s second-rounder says he still has more room for growth after the an impressive pre-season showing (Link to video on Twitter via DNVR Nuggets).
“I think I put myself in a good place” said Brazil. “… But I definitely got more on the side. I know I can do more on the court.”
Here’s some more injury news from the NBA:
- Wizards forward A. Ya. DybantsNo. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, day-to-day with ankle sprain after get injured in Friday’s preseason finale, according to the head coach Brian Keefe (Twitter references from The Athletic’s Josh Robbins). When Robbins asked Keefe if DiBanza would be active for Wednesday’s regular-season opener, Keefe said:We just go one day at a time.“
- The sun head coach Jordan Ott said Luke KennardThe hamstring strain “appears to be in a good place” ahead of Friday’s preseason finale, according to Dwayne Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Link to video on Twitter). “Obviously, we’re not going to push it in the preseason. We have a few days until the opening“- said Ott. Gerald Burge of Sports360AZ.com explains why he thinks the shooting guard will “fit right in” with the Suns’ offensive system.
- Everyone 17 members with Heatthe team participated in the Sunday training, he writes Anthony Chung of The Miami Herald. This includes Bam Adebayo (groin tension), Pele Larson (disease) and Drew Smith (right calf strain). While Adebayo and Larsson are expected to be ready for Wednesday’s opener against Minnesota, reserve guard Smith was less certain about his availability. “Today was my first day doing some stuff” Smith said after Sunday’s practice.So we’ll just see how it reacts, things like that. I don’t want to overdo it, so I’m slowly trying to get back to life as close as possible.”
- The magic keep rating Franz Wagnerright shoulder injury tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Head coach Sean Sweeney said Wagner was able to do “light work” during Sunday’s practice, which seems like a promising development. Anthony Black (ankle) had another full workout Sunday and continues to build, Sweeney added (Link to video on Twitter via Beede).
- magic forward Noah Penda spoke to journalists (video link) on Sunday about his partially torn right hamstringwhich he said was “very painful”. The 21-year-old said he had “no idea” about a potential return timeline and confirmed the tear affected a different part of his hamstring after dealing with a strain in the same hamstring during training camp. “The images showed that the first injury had completely healed” – said Penda. “ … Just terrible luck, to be honest.”
