The club had pulled off a minor coup.
They had signed former Nuggets forward Jonathan Janssen.
Janssen had been playing in Japan before injurying his back. He was keen to make his return from injury for the Nuggets.
The former Tall Black would have added depth to the roster and given the franchise another option in the paint, where they are undersized and have struggled against the bigger teams in the National Basketball League.
Nuggets general manager Angela Ruske said Janssen, who picked up a stress fracture, had been given clearance to return to court.
At that point, he reached out to the Nuggets.
But his doctor was not convinced the injury had healed, so Janssen asked to delay his arrival in Dunedin by a week to get a second MRI scan.
‘‘When that came back late last week, he got told that it still hadn’t healed and that he couldn’t get on court until July,’’ Ruske said.
‘‘He is absolutely devastated. He really wanted to play and was looking forward to being over here.
‘‘But unfortunately, he also needs to heal, because he wants to go back to Japan and he does not want to take that risk of it not being right.’’
It is a blow. Janssen was arguably the Nuggets’ best player last season.
He is not a natural centre but grew into the role and would have helped strengthen the area.
The Nuggets were dismantled 98-72 by the Auckland Tuatara in their last outing at the Edgar Centre.
The Tuatara have a tall lineup, and they leaned on veteran centres Rob Loe and Chris Johnson to pressure the Nuggets around the hoop.
Seasoned forward Thomas Vodanovich was able to bully his way through the heavy traffic and net 20 points.
The Nuggets were powerless to stop the trio from penetrating.
Isaac Miller-Jose was promoted from the bench and started the game in the hope he could restrict Auckland. He had a decent game, but he was giving up too much height and needed more help.
The Nuggets are still well-placed with a record of 4-3. But they have lost three games in a row, and their weakness are being exploited.
They will need to find a solution soon, or they risk their season unravelling.
The Nuggets’ next assignment is against the Nelson Giants in Nelson on Sunday afternoon.
