Vlatko Cancar

The Nuggets aren't expecting Cancar (knee) to play at any point during the 2023-24 season after the team applied for a Disabled Player Exception from the NBA prior to the Jan. 15 deadline, Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette reports. No reports have indicated that the Nuggets' request was approved by the NBA in the nearly three months since the team filed the application, but it nonetheless confirms that Cancar won't be available for the tail end of the regular season nor Denver's postseason run after he tore the ACL in his left knee in mid-August while playing for Slovenia during an exhibition game in Greece. Cancar acknowledged as much in an interview with Grant Afseth of SI.com in December, when the 26-year-old forward noted that he has turned his focus toward getting healthy for the upcoming summer, when he hopes to resume playing for Slovenia in the 2024 Olympics in Paris if the national team qualifies for a spot in the tournament. Cancar noted in the interview that he's been able to resume running on the court since undergoing surgery on his knee, but it's unclear what he's been able to do in terms of basketball activity in the ensuing three-plus months.