The Nuggets’ preseason trip to the Clippers took a worrying turn Wednesday night when Julian Strawther left the game after what looked like a lower-body injury in the third quarter.
Strawther was trying to work his way past Isaiah Jackson and Blake Wesley when he went down hard, visibly in pain. Azarly wrote on X that “Julian Strawther tweaked his knee on that last collision, went down in pain, and stayed down for a minute,” before adding, “Replay did not look good. He's now being helped back to the Nuggets locker room.”
He never returned.
In 19 minutes, Strawther finished with 11 points, two rebounds and two turnovers before exiting. Denver went on to lose to Los Angeles, 122-110.
The injury is especially concerning for a player trying to carve out a bigger role in his fourth season with the Nuggets. Strawther, who turns 24, is coming off a year in which he averaged 7.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists across 57 games while shooting a career-best 46.7% from the field and 38.7% from deep.
Selected No. 29 in the 2023 draft, Strawther has shown he can score when he gets extended run. But he enters this season buried on the depth chart behind Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Tyus Jones and DeMar DeRozan. He’s also in the final year of his first contract and is eligible for a rookie-scale extension.
Denver got 22 points and two rebounds from Trevon Brazile and 17 points and four rebounds from Cam Whitmore. Murray added 14 points and four rebounds in the loss.
In Other News...
Nuggets Suddenly Have A Julian Strawther Problem They Didn't Want
The Nuggets preseason loss to the Clippers was already the kind of October result teams mostly file away and move past, but the sight of Julian Strawther leaving after a third-quarter knee injury changed the tone quickly. Strawther has been part of Denvers effort to build out its depth, and any issue involving a rotation player this early in camp tends to land harder because it interrupts the work of sorting out roles and finding rhythm.
Trevon Brazile gave Denver something more encouraging off the bench in the same game, which is a small preseason bright spot the Nuggets can point to while they wait for clarity on Strawther. For now, though, the injury is the part hanging over everything, and the lack of an official report only adds to the uncertainty as Denver moves deeper into preseason without a clear read on how serious it might be. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Rookie Is Suddenly Forcing A Real Bench Debate
The Nuggets may have found a little more summer intrigue than they expected in Trevon Brazile, the rookie second-round pick who looked anything but tentative in a preseason game against the Clippers. He was the first man off the bench, played with obvious confidence, and brought the kind of athletic pop Denver can always use, finishing with 22 points while flashing impact on both ends of the floor.
There were still the usual rookie rough edges, especially a few defensive lapses, but Braziles overall showing gave the Nuggets something to think about as the rotation starts to take shape. For head coach David Adelman, the question is no longer just whether Brazile can hold his own in preseason minutes, but whether a real bench role is beginning to open up in front of him. [Read more 🡒]
Nikola Jokic Just Delivered A Reminder The Nuggets Still Have No Answer For
Nikola Jokic wasted little time in the Nuggets preseason opener against the Jazz reminding everyone what makes Denvers offense so hard to box in. On a behind-the-back feed to Cam Johnson, Jokic turned a routine possession into the kind of pass only he seems to see, and both Johnson and Aaron Gordon were quick to marvel at the precision and vision behind it.
Jokic called it his personal favorite and said it belonged near the top of his best passes, which is hardly a small claim from a player who has built a career on making the impossible look casual. For the Nuggets, it was another early glimpse of how much their season still revolves around his playmaking, and how few teams can ever feel truly comfortable when he starts manipulating the floor. [Read more 🡒]