Earlier today, the Nuggets announced that forward Jeff Green suffered a fractured left hand and a sprained finger in Friday night’s victory over the Portland Trailblazers. It was sustained in the fourth quarter of the game and he will be re-evaluated in four weeks to see how close he will be to returning.
Jeff Green has averaged 19.3 minutes per game this season and has played in 24 contests. In those minutes he’s averaged 7.5 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, and is shooting 52.7% from the field, 26.7% from beyond the arc, and 68.6% from the free throw line. He’s had ups and downs, but has been a rotation staple for the Nuggets when he has played. This leaves a good chunk of minutes to be filled by players that haven’t gotten a large sample in the rotation.
As of late, Michael Malone has said that he has to find ways to get both Christian Braun and Zeke Nnaji more minutes, and this may provide the avenue to see what both of those players could look like in extended run. It may provide insight as to what a bench rotation could look like in the playoffs if either of those players were to prove that they deserve more minutes than Jeff Green.
Jeff Green is slated to miss at least a month, and potentially more if his re-evaluation says he isn’t quite ready to come back. The Nuggets play 18 games in the next 4 weeks, so there will be plenty of opportunity for the younger players and also room for Jeff Green to fully recover.
