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Nuggets' Nurkic undergoes knee surgery, out 3-4 months

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

After a maiden campaign in which he lit up the internet, established himself as a long-term building block in the Denver Nuggets frontcourt, and landed on the All-Rookie second team, Jusuf Nurkic could be in for a difficult offseason.

Nurkic underwent knee surgery Wednesday to repair a slight tear of the patella tendon, and is expected to be sidelined three-to-four months.

The summer-long recovery timetable means Nurkic likely won't be able to suit up for Bosnia, as he'd hoped, in the FIBA EuroBasket Championship - a 24-nation tournament played from Sept. 5-20. If all goes according to plan, he should be ready (if rusty) for training camp.

Nurkic, who reportedly played through knee pain in the second half of the season and also suffered a severe ankle sprain, had planned to use this summer to focus on improving his conditioning.

"I'm still a young guy, so I will work hard, and I can't wait until next season," Nurkic said after his final regular-season game.

In a largely miserable season that saw coach Brian Shaw get fired while the Nuggets stumbled to their worst record (30-52) in 12 years, Nurkic stood out as a rare bright spot. He averaged 6.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 17.8 minutes, leading the team in both rebound and block percentage and improving their defense by 5.2 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor.

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