The fears of Denver Nuggets fans have been realized, as ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks.
That is not technically the worst news Denver could have received on his injury, but it certainly isn’t great news. Christian Braun is also out for that period of time, and both men will need to be re-evaluated and then work back into game shape even if the evaluations go well. Losing two starters just a month into the season is going to complicate Denver’s title chase and make home court harder to obtain. Gordon was having a tremendous scoring start to the year, opening with a 50-point game against the Warriors and demonstrating his improved offensive versatility to go with typically-ferocious defense and even a return to form on his rebounding. He will definitely be missed during his recovery.
That said, this is where Denver will have to find solutions. Peyton Watson is already filling in for Christian Braun as a wing defender while supplementing that with help-side blocks and recovery. He is too slight to play a ton of interior defense at power forward though, and that’s where DaRon Holmes II will need to help out. Denver drafted him to back up Gordon, and although the Achilles injury last year kept him off the court he still had a year to experience practices and game plans, and this whole preseason he was healthy and available for camp. Holmes has been playing in the G League and is stretched out to play full games, even though that league’s competitive intensity does not match that of the NBA. Hunter Tyson is also too small for a interior defensive role, and Zeke Nnaji doesn’t have the offensive touch needed to be on the floor with Watson and potentially Spencer Jones. That requires too much of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to carry the scoring burden. They need a power forward with the strength to survive inside and the ability to score, and Deuce Holmes fits that bill.
The Nuggets need AG and CB to heal up completely before returning; last year Gordon had to keep playing through his calf injury and was never able to fully heal his legs, and it finally became too much to overcome against the Oklahoma City Thunder. If Denver plans to do better in their playoff run this year and get by the defending champion OKC, they need Gordon and Braun to be as healthy as possible – and that means Watson and Holmes and Spencer Jones and Bruce Brown must keep Denver’s winning ways going and coach David Adelman has to patch together a workable roster to allow them all the healing time they need.
Denver has more depth this year, and that will now be tested in meaningful games into 2026. There’s no sense dipping a toe in the water. They’ll have to embrace the muck. The Nuggets have overcome adversity before, they’ll just have to do it again. Heal up well Aaron – we want you back at full strength for the second half of the year.
