On Saturday, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan revealed that reserve big man Nerlens Noel tweaked his ankle in practice earlier this week and that he would be limited in practice until further notice.
The hope for Noel is that he continues to progress and that he’s able to get back to full contact in practice, but Donovan himself admitted that the team is going to be overly protective and cautious with the big man. At this point of the season, there’s simply no need to rush him back from injury.
The trend continued on Sunday, as Donovan provided another update on Noel. For at least the second consecutive day, he did not participate in contact portions of practice.
Nerlens Noel did not participate in the contact portions of practice today. Donovan said the team is still being cautious with him.
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) July 19, 2020
Darius Bazley has filled in for Noel, and although Donovan himself said he sees Bazley as more of a power forward type player, he would continue to get the repetitions that are available in Noel’s stead.
At this point, there is no reason to believe that Noel won’t be ready to go by the time the Thunder are ready to square off against the Celtics in their first exhibition game in Orlando on July 24.
Right now, though, the team is obviously taking it one day at a time.