DENVER, Dec. 23 -- Veteran shooting guard Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets has decided to have surgery on his ailing left shoulder that will sideline him for the balance of the NBA season.
Billups, who was projected to a key cog in the Nuggets' reclamation project this season, suffered what was initially diagnosed as a mild separation in the game against Sacramento Dec. 16 when a Kings player accidentally landed on it. But further tests revealed the injury was more serious and non-surgical rehabilitation might not have prevented the shoulder from being re-injured.
He is slated for surgery on Monday.
The 6-3, 202-pound Denver native is very disheartened. The injury could not be more untimely because he will be a free agent at the season.
$?'It (the surgery) was a tough decision for me because everybody knows this was a big year for me, a contract year,' Billups told the Denver Post.$?'But the thing was, I wanted to be healthy. The doctor told me had I tried to rehabilitate it for three weeks, there was still a 95 percent chance if would come back out again. I wanted to tough it out but this something I just have to do.'
Physically, it has been a very difficult year for the 23-year-old Billups, who also missed the first nine games this season because of a sprained ankle. He previously dislocated his right shoulder during an outstanding scholastic career at Denver's George Washington High School.
Billups, an All-American collegiately at Colorado, was averaging just 8.5 points and 3.0 assists per game in 13 games this season. Those numbers were 12.9 and 3.9, respectively, in his first two NBA campaigns.
He was a third-round pick of the Boston Celtics in the 1997 draft and came to Denver in a trade last year.
In terms of his future, a team official is understanding but non- committal.Billups is eligible to get a maximum six-year deal after this season, under terms of the current collective bargaining agreement.
$?'We know what Chauncey has done and we know what he is capable of doing,' said Nuggets President and Coach Dan Issel.$?'He was hoping to have a good enough year to give him the maximum length of time (on his contract) togive him security. What we will probably have to do now is give him a shorter term deal but it shouldn't hurt him that much.'
His roster will be filled by rookie Chris Herren from Fresno State. In addition, veteran swingman Bryant Stith, who has been coming off the bench, will get more playing time.
Stith has averaged 13 points per game in the Nuggets' last two outings.
