The Nuggets had Aaron Gordon for all of four minutes in Monday night’s win over the Toronto Raptors before he left with a right calf strain.
They’ll have to get used to not having him in the rotation even longer.
Denver’s starting power forward is expected to miss multiple weeks due to the injury, a league source told The Denver Post, confirming a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania. What exactly that means for the starting lineup going forward is unclear, but with Jamal Murray also expected to miss his third game because of a concussion Wednesday, the Nuggets will likely have multiple bench players forced into increased minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gordon signed a four-year, $133 million contract extension in October that will keep him under contract in Denver through the 2028-29 season if he so chooses. Under the terms of the deal, he’s making a team-friendly salary of $22.8 million this season and next.
Gordon, 29, was listed on Denver’s injury report as probable with right calf inflammation and a right knee contusion entering the game Monday against the Raptors. At a timeout during the first quarter, he walked off the court under his own power and didn’t return. Gordon was officially ruled out at halftime.
He is averaging 15.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season, highlighted by a 31-point performance in Minnesota last week. He is also 54.5% from 3-point range, a promising sign on a roster that has been scrutinized for its lack of shooting.
The versatile power forward was already used as Nikola Jokic’s backup center — an auxiliary role usually reserved for the playoffs — when the Nuggets faced a double-digit deficit and a potential 0-3 start last week in Toronto. Gordon’s contributions to the second unit helped Denver overcome a 15-point deficit to earn its first win of the season.
Without him, Michael Malone has a few options to play the four. Peyton Watson learned the position last season to fill a rotation spot as Gordon’s backup, and he has continued to be used in that capacity in stints this season. Watson or Hunter Tyson would be slightly smaller, less traditional power forward options. Tyson has emerged as the 10th man in the rotation, with Malone saying recently the 2023 second-round pick is earning his trust.
If Malone wants to try bigger lineups, he can turn to Zeke Nnaji or Dario Saric for minutes. Nnaji made his first non-garbage time appearance Monday after Gordon’s injury, splitting time between the four and the five — a distinction that Malone firmly believes is irrelevant in terms of maximizing Nnaji’s skillset. The 23-year-old big signed a four-year, $32 million contract extension in 2023 that went into effect this summer, making him the fifth-highest-paid player on Denver’s roster.
The Nuggets acquired Saric in July for two years and $10.6 million, but he has been out of Malone’s rotation the last two games after a shaky start to the season. He was deployed as Jokic’s backup center in the first five games, but Malone has said he’s open to using Saric as a four who shares the floor with Jokic as well. On Saturday, the Nuggets went to DeAndre Jordan at the backup five spot in a win over Utah.
“By no means does that mean am I saying our bench was struggling because of Dario Saric,” Malone said. “That wasn’t the case. I mean, I know Dario can play better. It was just me looking to try different things after a five-game stretch. Just to give us a different look. A different energy. A different feel. And I’m not saying that’s going to be every night moving forward. But I think five games is a fair amount of time. Ten games is probably better. But five NBA games, you’re getting a feel for, ‘OK, what is going on with our bench? We may have to adjust and tweak some things.'”
