Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler feels as though he never left the gym.

“I was surprised when I starting doing stuff. It felt like I haven’t stopped playing,” he said. “(It feels) like I wasn’t out all year.”

After arthroscopic surgery on his right hip last fall, which led him to miss the 2015-16 season, Chandler is back to full health. He said he feels “100 percent and strong.”

He was cleared to play 5-on-5 in June. He returned to Denver from Los Angeles this week to work out at the Pepsi Center. He also had a chance to see the Nuggets’ draft picks work out and came away impressed.

“I think they’re really good,” Wilson said. “Our young core is great. I think they fit really well. We need shooting anyway, so they add shooting (and) they add toughness. They’re pretty smart as far as the game goes for being so young.”

Chandler planned to travel with the Nuggets’ summer league team to Las Vegas to watch it play this weekend but has a family reunion to attend. Getting a healthy Chandler back would be huge for the Nuggets next season. In the 2014-15 season, he averaged 13.9 points and a career-high 6.1 rebounds per game.