It has been a little more than a week since Nuggets' forward Nene had surgery to repair a torn ulnar ligament in his left thumb.

It is an expected six-week rehabilitation process before Nene is back on the court, but already strength-and-conditioning coach Steve Hess is excited about what the Brazilian will look like, weight and conditioning-wise, once he returns.

"I promise you, when he steps back on the court, people are just going to be like 'Wow,'" Hess said. "He'll come back from an injury where a person with less mental strength may put on weight. He won't. He'll come back better than he was when he went out."