Ever since the trade deadline when they acquired Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets had been rolling, winning 8 of their last night heading into last night’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately though, the worst thing that could have happened to the Nuggets at this time happened, as Jamal Murray went down with a severe knee injury.
Prior to last night’s game, Murray had sat out Denver’s last four games with right knee soreness, but felt good enough to play against the Warriors last night. With about 50 seconds left in the game, Jamal Murray was driving to the rim for a fastbreak layup attempt and his left knee buckled underneath him and he fell to the ground in agonizing pain.
Initial reports and reaction from the Nuggets were not good at all and early this morning, news broke that Murray suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and will not only miss the remainder of this season, but will likely miss at least the first-half of next season as well.
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This is a devastating blow to a team that was starting to play their best basketball of the season and now, they will be scrambling for answers. Their championship window was already small in the Western Conference and now, after this brutal injury, the Nuggets may not have a shot to win a title anymore.
The 24-year-old guard was in the midst of a career-year with the Nuggets and with all of the weapons they had, many believed that Denver could potentially be a team that makes it back to the Western Conference Finals. Now, their championship chances have seemed to diminish with the news today, but they can still try to make the most of this season.
There are some key names who are free agents that Denver could look to bring in not only to help in the backcourt, but to potentially help seize some of the productionthat Murray leaves behind. Let’s take a look at three free agents the Nuggets should consider signing with Jamal Murray now being out for the season.
