Former Nuggets wing PJ Dozier, who tore his left ACL in November, has been cleared to resume full basketball activities, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Dozier is expected to be ready to go for the start of training camp this fall.
Dozier emerged as an important reserve for Denver in recent years, appearing in 97 games from 2019-21 and averaging 6.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG on .408/.321/.676 shooting in 19.0 minutes per contest. Losing him to an ACL tear this past season hurt the Nuggets’ perimeter defense.
After Dozier was injured, he was traded from the Nuggets to the Celtics in January, then to the Magic at the February trade deadline. Orlando waived the 25-year-old shortly after acquiring him, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Dozier’s ACL procedure occurred on December 7, so it has only been about six months since he went under the knife. Many players who undergo surgery to repair a torn ACL – including Dozier’s former teammate Jamal Murray – take at least a full calendar year to make it back into a game, so teams with interest in signing Dozier this offseason will likely want to take a close look at his medicals.
Those some poor shooting percentages.
But a fantastic defender. A bigger Matisse Thybulle.
He wasn’t playing many minutes but was a good defender as a wing with size. It really hurt Denver as they suddenly ended up with lots of power forwards and lots of undersized guards but no one at 6’6″ as a perimeter playmaker other than Will Barton who ended up getting a starting role and minutes out of loyalty/necessity.
Reggie Lewis’ nephew.
*starting role and salary