Oklahoma City ? Forward Nick Collison will miss an unidentified portion of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s training camp because of a bone bruise in his left knee.
The Thunder announced the decision Tuesday. Oklahoma City plays its first preseason game Oct. 6 against Charlotte in Fayetteville, N.C., but the regular season is a month away.
Center Nenad Krstic will also be limited in training camp after having surgery last week to repair a broken index finger on his right hand.
The injury is not to the same knee that Collison underwent arthroscopic surgery on in mid-May so there is no further damage to the right knee that troubled the six-year veteran out of Kansas University throughout last season.
Collison told the Daily Oklahoman on Monday that his surgically repaired right knee was 100 percent healed.
“The knee is doing great,” Collison told the Oklahoman. “It feels a lot better now than it did last year pretty much all year. Even the year before, that’s kind of something I’ve been dealing with for awhile. It feels strong and ready to go. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Collison’s absence could mean additional preseason playing time for first-round draft pick Cole Aldrich, also from KU.
