(AP)

DENVER --- Arnett Moultrie continues to progress toward a return to the court.

Moultrie engaged in 5-on-5 practice earlier this week, his first such session since injuring his left ankle in preseason conditioning drills. The second-year forward, who had surgery in September, is working his body into game shape, which could be at least a week away. He was a participant in Wednesday's morning shootaround, before the 76ers faced the Denver Nuggets.

“There’s no timetable,” Moultrie said. “I don’t know when I’m going to start dressing. I haven’t talked to Coach (Brett Brown) or KJ (head trainer Kevin Johnson) about that.”

When Brown was a candidate last summer for the Sixers’ coaching gig, he said, he liked what he saw from afar of Moultrie in the Orlando Summer League. Still, Brown said he needs to see a higher motor out of Moultrie.

“If he can, he’s going to help us and he’s going to earn a fairly significant income and he’s going to stay in the NBA for a while,” Brown said. “There are a lot of players like Arnett out there that hang around and end up (playing) in Istanbul. The challenge for him, and to him, is I think he could be an NBA keeper provided he understands his road map – and it needs to be one of a fierce competitor and something that’s energized and not cruisy and time-to-time. That’s his knock. That’s what we need. He’s wide-eyed when we talk to him.”

The Sixers must have liked what they saw out of Moultrie, a 6-10, 240-pounder, when he averaged 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds as a rookie. In October, they picked up the third-year, $1.13 million option on his rookie deal, meaning he’s one of the few on Brown’s roster with a somewhat locked-in future with the club.