Predicting Who Nuggets Turn to After Julian Strawther Injury Update

The Denver Nuggets will start the season without guard Julian Strawther, as the team announced on Friday night that he suffered a left knee sprain against the Los Angeles Clippers and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

Strawther got hurt in the third quarter of Wednesday's preseason game, and head coach David Adelman had no real update after the game beyond an MRI the next morning.

Adelman said it was tough to see anyone get hurt, especially a player who had worked so hard all summer, and he added that "all you can do is hope for the best."

Six weeks from Friday lands on Nov. 27, so Strawther will miss at least the first month of the regular season.

The timing stings because he looked ready for a bigger role, as he scored in double figures in all four preseason games he played and made 10 of his 23 threes, a 43.5% clip.

That came after he shot 38.7% from deep in 57 games last season.

Denver got a first look without Strawther in Friday's 121-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to close the preseason.

A local report from the game noted that guard Tyus Jones, forward Alpha Diallo, guard DeMar DeRozan and forward Marvin Bagley III made up the second unit through the first three quarters.

DeRozan played almost 27 minutes and scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Diallo played almost 23 minutes and added nine points.

Forward Cam Whitmore, who scored 17 points against the Clippers, played less than five minutes.

The Nuggets were thin in other spots too, since forward Aaron Gordon did not play on Friday and forward Spencer Jones is dealing with a hamstring strain.

Forward Trevon Brazile started in place of Gordon, and he has given Denver another young option after his 22-point night against the Clippers.

I think DeRozan takes on the biggest share of the load.

Adelman already planned to keep him with the bench group, and he said earlier this preseason that he did not want to play a starter with the second unit if he could help it, so DeRozan becomes the go-to scorer for that group.

He did not attempt a three on Friday, though, so Strawther's spacing will be hard to replace.

That is why I expect Diallo to get most of the actual wing minutes.

He fits next to DeRozan and Tyus Jones, who had eight assists against the Lakers, because he is a forward who does not need the ball to help, and Adelman trusted him with real minutes on Friday.

Whitmore can score, as he showed against the Clippers, but his short night on Friday tells me he has to earn steady minutes first.

All of this puts more on DeRozan's plate than Denver wanted this early.

The Nuggets open the season on Thursday at the Oklahoma City Thunder before they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, and I believe the bench will look a lot like it did against the Lakers until Strawther returns.