According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who is currently in Denver with the team, Nuggets backup point guard Isaiah Thomas should return to action “sometime in December.”

Thomas, whom the Nuggets signed in free agency this summer, has been out all season as he recovers from a hip injury originally sustained as a member of the Boston Celtics in 2017. After foregoing surgery in the 2017-18 offseason, Thomas went under the knife in March 2018 to try and clean up the lingering effects of his original injury for good.

Since then, a full recovery has been a priority for the veteran guard. As Thomas said during September’s media day, “I can tell you that I’m feeling a lot better than I did last season. I do not have a date right now, I’m going to take my sweet time, because I’ve rushed it before and that did not work out for me. We’re not worried about right now. We’re worried about April, worried about the playoffs and me being as healthy as I can going into that stretch. However long it takes, I’m only going to go out on the court when I can produce at a high level.”

Having a clear timeline on Thomas’s return is good news for Denver. Thomas has not only proven to be a vocal leader off the court, but will be a boon for the team as a huge scoring threat off the bench. The Nuggets are off to their best start in over 40 years with an 8-1 record, but adding a veteran scorer and playmaker like Thomas to the fold will be huge for a team trying to make a splash not only in the regular season but also in the playoffs.