ARTHUR IS LIMITED IN DRILLS

omaha» Nuggets forward Darrell Arthur was back on the court in a limited capacity Friday as he progresses in his rehabilitation after offseason arthroscopic knee surgery.

“The biggest thing for him right now, the good news is that his knee is feeling really well,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Now it’s a matter of getting in shape. It was great to have Darrell back because of his intensity, his work ethic. As I say all the time, he’s a guy that you love as a coach because he’s about all the right things. Even in the limited time he was out here today, his voice, his presence were very welcome.”

Arthur hopes to be back in a full-time role midway through camp, which Malone said is possible.

“I believe so,” Malone said. “The biggest thing is that the knee is feeling good, there’s no concerns. As he’s doing his workouts, there’s no issues with the knee. Now it’s a matter of getting his heart rate, his conditioning, his wind back. I think he’ll be back next week or in two weeks.”

Maximizing effort.

The Nuggets have had trouble in the past sustaining effort. But that hasn’t been an issue so far during training camp, Malone said.

“I really felt going into (Friday morning’s) practice like I was going to have to be a dentist, pulling teeth,” he said. “Did not have to do that at all. These guys brought it today.

“It’s not always pretty, there’s a lot of stuff for us to clean up, which is great. That’s to be expected. But the one thing we have not had to coach so far is energy and effort.”

Footnotes.

Former Denver Rockets player Walt Piatkowski visited the Nuggets on Friday morning. He was with the Rockets from 1968-70. … The Nuggets resumed two-a-day practices Friday after going just once Thursday. There are two more camp days in Omaha before the Nuggets head to Calgary for their preseason opener against the Raptors on Monday night. Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post