Kenyon Martin likely out until playoffs
By John Livingston | March 9, 2010
The Denver Nuggets have been riddled with small injuries since December, but any NBA team will sacrifice the little injuries all season if it means nobody goes down for a long stretch of the year.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, forward Kenyon Martin will now likely be out until the start of the NBA playoffs as he undergoes platelet rich plasma therapy for his ailing left knee.
Here is a snippet from the Denver Post detailing the therapy:
According to the website of the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, where doctors have worked with Martin’s knee, PRP therapy is “an ‘autologous blood therapy’ that uses a patient’s own blood components to stimulate a healing response in damaged tissues. In response to an injury or tissue damage, your body naturally recruits platelets and white blood cells from the blood to initiate a healing response.”
This is undoubtedly bad news for the Nuggets, but far better than Martin requiring season ending knee surgery.
Martin, 32, was having one of his better seasons as a Nugget as he was averaging 11.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
The Nuggets, who were in need of another big man anyway, will have to scramble to find another big (something nearly impossible after the trade deadline) or come up with a system to utilize the players currently on the roster to fill the void.
Perhaps the most pivotal factor for the Nuggets will be the role that All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony plays from here on out. He needs to use his size and athleticism inside to collect rebounds. Martin also had the ability to cover the opposing team’s best inside player one-on-one and it will be important for Anthony to step up his all-around defense to take the slack off of his teammates who will be forced to double team a lot inside.
“I think everybody’s got to step up, everybody’s got to take a stab at his position,” said Anthony. “Sometimes, when Kenyon’s out there, we can let him play his man straight up and we don’t have to worry about anything. But now we all have to come together as a team and deal with that.”
Bottom line: Melo will definitely need to step up and assert his dominance.
The Nuggets are just 4-4 without Martin so far this season and having Nene, Martin and Chris Andersen healthy for most of the season has helped lead the Nuggets to the 42-21 record they currently have.
Johan Petro filled in for Martin in the Nuggets’ last home win against the Portland Trailblazers. Petro had 10 rebounds in his first start of the season.
Also expected to fill in for Martin will be Malik Allen and Joey Graham. Graham has filled in multiple times this year for a variety of Nuggets starters and has shown an ability to score and play a high level of defense.
However, the Nuggets are diving into the free agency pool and worked out Brian Cook and Jake Voskuh on Monday. The team is also reportedly interested in acquiring Mark Blount but obviously any bench player will have a hard time filling the spot that Martin leaves behind.
At least it sounds like Martin will be back in time for the playoffs. He is key to the team’s success and will absolutely need to be in the starting lineup in the playoffs if the Nuggets want to make that run at the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.
***The Denver Post’s Benjamin Hochman provided the quotes for this story
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