![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/gordon1228.jpg\")
File photo\nNuggets<\/p>\n
File photo
\nNuggets<\/p>\n
Denver got the news it didn\u2019t want. The team announced that Aaron Gordon<\/a> has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a double blow for a Nuggets team already down Christian Braun<\/a>, who is expected to miss at least another month with a sprained left ankle.<\/p>\n Gordon had just returned Friday in Houston after sitting out Wednesday with bilateral hamstring management.<\/p>\n Three minutes into that game, he pulled up, this time injuring the opposite hamstring from the Grade 2 strain he fought through in last season\u2019s playoffs.<\/p>\n Before the injury, Gordon was playing some of the best basketball of his career. He averaged 20.3 points and 6.3 boards on scorching .536\/.452\/.879 shooting over 12 games, anchoring Denver\u2019s defense and swinging games<\/p>\n The Nuggets are plus-20.7 per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Without him, they break even. That\u2019s how big his impact has been.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Denver is forced into some experiments, including more Nikola Jokic<\/a>\/Jonas Valanciunas<\/a> double-big minutes. Jokic admitted the early returns are uneven.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s good. Sometimes it\u2019s really bad,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need more minutes together.\u201d<\/p>\n Pistons<\/p>\n Jaden Ivey<\/a>\u2019s long road back finally ended Saturday night, and Detroit made sure it doubled as a celebration.<\/p>\n In his first regular-season game since January 1, the third-year guard helped the Pistons stretch their winning streak<\/a> to 12 with a clean, steady debut: 10 points, two assists, a steal and just one miss in 15 minutes.<\/p>\n Ivey admitted the emotions hit him hard after nearly 11 months away and two surgeries \u2014 a fractured left fibula last season and right knee surgery in October.<\/p>\n \u201cSo much gratitude to be out there again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re just happy to have him back,\u201d Bickerstaff told reporters. \u201cThis was more celebration of his journey to get back.<\/p>\n \u201cFifteen minutes isn\u2019t easy to find a rhythm, but he did all the things we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n Detroit used all thirteen active players in the win over Milwaukee, and Bickerstaff said he plans to keep experimenting with a 12-man rotation as he learns his roster.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys are going to have an opportunity because they\u2019ve earned it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n NBA Draft<\/p>\n Sam Vecenie of The Athletic<\/a> shared early impressions on the 2026 draft class, including why many scouts currently have Cameron Boozer trailing Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa for the No. 1 spot.<\/p>\n Boozer\u2019s shot creation and at-the-rim finishing remain areas evaluators want to see develop. Nothing alarming, but enough to give Peterson and Dybantsa the early edge.<\/p>\n Looking for the latest NBA Insider News & Rumors?<\/p>\n Be sure to follow Hoops Wire<\/a> on TWITTER<\/a>\u00a0and FACEBOOK<\/a>\u00a0for breaking NBA News and Rumors for all 30 teams!<\/p>\n