Injury Updates: S. Jones, Dybantsa, Kennard, Heat, Magic

Nuggets forward Spencer Jones told reporters — including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link) — on Sunday that he’s on track to play in Thursday’s regular season opener at Oklahoma City.

Jones tweaked his hamstring during training camp at the beginning of the month and subsequently underwent an MRI, which revealed a strain. The 25-year-old was able to compete in part of a scrimmage during Sunday’s practice, Durando notes.

Multiple reserves received playing time during the preseason while Jones was recovering. Head coach David Adelman said Sunday that he might utilize a “fake” 11-man rotation to open the season, and singled out Trevon Brazile, Bryce Hopkins and Cam Whitmore as candidates to receive spot minutes (Twitter video link via DNVR Nuggets).

“If the first half doesn’t work out, is there somebody that you say, ‘Why don’t we change it up and play them in the third quarter?’” Adelman said. “A small amount of minutes, but just rotate them in. … You can’t be scared to throw those guys out there.”

Second-rounder Brazile says he still has more room for growth after an impressive preseason showing (Twitter video link via DNVR Nuggets).

“I think I put myself in a good spot,” Brazile said. “… But I definitely got more in the tank. I know I’ve got more I can do on the court.”

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

• Wizards forward AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, is “day-to-day” with an ankle sprain after suffering the injury in Friday’s preseason finale, according to head coach Brian Keefe (Twitter links from Josh Robbins of The Athletic). When Robbins asked Keefe if Dybantsa would be active for Wednesday’s regular season opener, Keefe replied, “We’re just going one day at a time.“
• Suns head coach Jordan Ott said Luke Kennard’s knee tendon strain “seems to be in a good spot” prior to Friday’s preseason finale, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter video link). “Obviously, we’re not going to press it here in the preseason. We have a couple days here before opening night,” Ott said. Gerald Bourguet of Sports360AZ.com explains why he thinks the sharpshooting guard will be a “seamless fit” in the Suns’ offensive system.
• All 17 members of the Heat’s roster participated in Sunday’s practice, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. That includes Bam Adebayo (groin tightness), Pelle Larsson (illness) and Dru Smith (right calf strain). While Adebayo and Larsson expect to be ready for Wednesday’s opener vs. Minnesota, backup guard Smith was less certain about his availability. “Today was my first day jumping into some things,” Smith said following Sunday’s practice. “So we’re just going to see how it responds, that kind of thing. I don’t want to overdo it, so slowly try to get back to as close to live as I can.”
• The Magic continue to evaluate Franz Wagner’s right shoulder injury, tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Head coach Sean Sweeney said Wagner was able to do some “light work” during Sunday’s practice, which seems like a promising development. Anthony Black (ankle) went through another full practice on Sunday and continues to ramp up, Sweeney added (Twitter video link via Beede).
• Magic forward Noah Penda spoke to reporters (video link) on Sunday about his partially torn right hamstring, which he said was “really sore.” The 21-year-old said he had “no idea” about a potential return timeline and confirmed that the tear impacted a different part of his hamstring after he dealt with a strain to the same hamstring during training camp. “The images showed that the first injury was fully healed,” Penda said. “ … Just terrible luck, honestly.”