With reserve guards Randy Foye and Nate Robinson still nursing injuries, Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw said today the team might be in the market for point guard help, writes Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. Foye is dealing with a quad tear and won’t be back for several weeks while Robinson is day-to-day with a bruised spine.
“Especially with Nate and Randy out, we don’t have another guy to get us into our offense and run things for us,” Shaw said. “So, that’s something as an organization that we’re going to have to think about – having another point guard or adding another point guard or something to our roster where, because if anything happens to Ty [Lawson], we’re in trouble. It’s as simple as that.”
Lawson has been forced to play 40 minutes per night in December heading into tonight’s contest in Toronto, which is up from the 35.8 average he racked up in November. Like many of the Nuggets, the sixth-year point guard has bounced back after a shaky start, and he has tallied double-digit assists in eight straight games. Nevertheless, it’s easy to wonder how long Lawson can hold up under this level of usage.
As Dempsey points out, the Nuggets dealt with point guard issues last season when Lawson went down and backup Andre Miller was suspended. While the team has since added rookie ballhandlers Gary Harris and Erick Green and is generally considered to boast a deep roster, it’s conceivable to think last year’s difficult experience might influence them to consider adding depth in the backcourt. As our 2014/15 Expanded Roster Counts show, Green is the only of the 15 Nuggets players without a fully guaranteed deal.