According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Denver Nuggets fear that reserve wing P.J. Dozier suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Tuesday night.
Dozier suffered the injury early in his minutes off the bench in the first quarter after landing awkwardly during a layup attempt. Dozier was down for several minutes and had to be carried off by teammates.
The South Carolina product wasn’t having the best season of his career, averaging 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 18.9 minutes per game so far. Still, it was far too early in the year to pass judgment, and there was time for Dozier to turn things around. The 25-year-old still has a small chance if imagining today shows anything other than the need for surgery, but it appears that Dozier’s season may be done.
This injury is a knife to the chest for the Nuggets after several injuries over the last few weeks. With Jamal Murray still recovering, it appears that Michael Porter Jr.’s season may be in jeopardy as well due to nerve damage in his back. Nikola Jokić, Bones Hyland, Vlatko Čančar, and Zeke Nnaji have dealt with various injuries. Will Barton is trying to remain tough while playing through one himself.
Now, Dozier goes down too, and Denver’s wing depth takes a serious hit. Porter and Dozier were important pieces of Denver’s projected playoff rotation, and now, Will Barton and Aaron Gordon will be relied upon more than ever before. The Nuggets don’t have any other wings on their roster.
Still, my heart goes out to Dozier, who’s in a contract year and was hoping to earn a contract extension with the Nuggets or perhaps a new deal elsewhere. Those discussions have become considerably different now, and there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Dozier’s place on Denver’s roster going forward.
Hopefully, the imaging today shows something different.
