Emmanuel Mudiay aggravates back injury, status uncertain for three-game road trip

DENVER — Emmanuel Mudiay will not play against the Mavericks Monday night and his status for the Nuggets’ three-game road trip starting Wednesday in Atlanta is uncertain.

“He hurt it last game in San Antonio. He had a drive to the basket. He fell pretty hard into the basket stanchion. It kind of reaggravated the pre-existing injury if you will,” Michael Malone said of Mudiay’s back injury. “So he’s out, and hopefully we’ll get him back as soon as possible.”

The 20-year-old has been bothered with low back pain for the past couple of weeks and recently missed five games with the injury before returning and playing 26 minutes off the bench in the Nuggets’ Feb. 1 loss to Memphis.

Mudiay scored six points on 2-10 shooting in 20 minutes in Denver’s 121-97 loss to the Spurs Saturday when he re-injured his back. As far as Mudiay’s status for Denver’s upcoming three-game trip, which takes the Nuggets from Atlanta to New York and Cleveland before returning home for a matchup with the Warriors, it is currently up in the air.

“I don’t know definitively how long it’s going to be,” Malone said. “Definitely out tonight. We leave tomorrow for a three-game trip. Hope to get him back but the back is a tricky thing and I don’t want him coming back, playing one game and missing two, coming back. We’d like to try and get this under control if we can and when he does come back have it be for an extended period of time.”

Jameer Nelson will start at point guard with Jamal Murray handling the primary backup duties.

Danilo Gallinari (left groin strain) and Kenneth Faried (personal reasons) are also out tonight versus Dallas.

D-League team still likely in Nuggets’ cards next season

At the onset of the regular season, the hopes of the Nuggets landing a D-League affiliate looked high.

Now, nearing the All-Star break, that outlook remains positive. NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper reported that the league is planning on adding at least two D-League teams next season, with an announcement coming around the All-Star break. Nuggets’ president Josh Kroenke also said at Media Day this past fall, that there has been “a lot of dialogue” around the subject inside the Nuggets’ organization.

Per CBS Sports’ Matt Moore, Denver will not be a team that announces their D-League plans at All-Star weekend, but the team is still planning on a team for the 2017-18 season.

No possible locations for a D-League affiliate have been floated at this time and a formal announcement would likely come later in the regular season or this offseason.