The Breakers forward was diagnosed with a stress reaction injury and may miss the remainder of the Breakers' campaign.
But Basketball Otago general manager Markham Brown is confident Anthony will still be seen in a Nuggets singlet this year.
Brown spoke to Anthony and Breakers management on Wednesday to check progress on his injury.
"I'm pretty confident that he will still be OK for us at the end of the Breakers' season," Brown told the Otago Daily Times.
"He just needs time for the injury to heal and I'm confident we will have him for the back end of the season as planned. He will probably have eight games for us.
"When I spoke to BJ he was very excited about coming down here to play for the Nuggets."
Nuggets coach Alf Arlidge was philosophical.
"If BJ plays for us it will be great but if he doesn't, it will be sad for the franchise," he said.
"But he has to get himself right first. We think he will still play for us."
In a statement, Breakers physio Anousith Bouaaphone said Anthony was hopeful of returning in time for the finals series.
"BJ has a stress reaction injury - not a stress fracture. This was known very early on, after his MRI scan. He has been rested from high-impact activities as a measure to prevent it from developing into a stress fracture.
"The plan for BJ this week was to gradually increase his load and integrate him back into training. Unfortunately he developed some discomfort over the two training sessions and subsequently will be rested further.
"He is still determined to be back playing this season and subject to improvement he could well be available during the [playoffs], and will continue to work hard on his rehab in the meantime."
Anthony is a good post player and is expected to bring a lot of aggression to the Nuggets. He averaged 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Waikato Pistons last season.
The Nuggets play the Manawatu Jets at the Edgar Centre tonight and will be looking to post their third win this season, after wins against the Harbour Heat in the opening round and against the Southland Sharks in Dunedin on Sunday.
The Nuggets snapped a three year, 33-game losing streak with a 74-67 win in the corresponding fixture against the Jets last year. But Manawatu shapes as a surprise package this season, with good wins against the defending champion Wellington Saints and highly rated Auckland Pirates in the last round.
Centre Nick Horvath has been one of the standout players in the league and his battle with Nuggets centre Antoine Tisby will be intriguing.
In other games this week, the Pirates beat the Saints 105-97 in Auckland but the Saints bounced back to beat the Sharks 91-76 in Wellington on Thursday.
Nuggets v Jets
Edgar Centre, tonight, 7pm
• Otago Nuggets: Mark Dickel, Antoine Tisby, Akeem Wright, Riki Buckrell, Matt Trueman, Sam King, James Ross, Ethan Carruthers, Tom Allan, Steve Robinson, Damon Cleverley, Olly Smith.
• Manawatu Jets: Nick Horvath, Josh Pace, Dustin Mitchell, Matt Te Huna, Zane Meehl, Miles Pearce, Kaine Hokianga, Mike Homik, Zeke Meehl
