With Jamal Murray recovering from an ACL tear and Michael Porter Jr. off to a slow start, the Nuggets are leaning more than ever this season on reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. That’s a problem, in the view of head coach Michael Malone, who says he’d like the team to reduce its reliance on Jokic, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
“I told our guys just now, Nikola’s not a good player, (he’s) a great player,” Malone said after a Nuggets loss to Memphis on Wednesday. “But every time he comes out, everything just falls apart. It’s every night. I went to him in the fourth quarter, I called his name, and he looked at me, kind of like, ‘Already?’ And I feel for him. … Nikola’s gonna be worn down by Christmas at this rate.”
The numbers back up Malone’s assertion that “everything just falls apart” when Jokic is out of the game. The Nuggets have +14.5 net rating in Jokic’s 248 minutes so far this season, compared to an abysmal -21.4 net rating in the 136 minutes he hasn’t played. Denver has always played better with Jokic on the court, but the team will need to find a way to at least tread water while he’s resting.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- On a recent episode of his The Scoop podcast, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North stated that it has been a little while since Timberwolves head of basketball operations Sachin Gupta talked to the Sixers about Ben Simmons. “About three-and-a-half, four weeks ago, he did plant the seed with the Philadelphia front office that, ‘Yeah, I’m interested in Ben Simmons,'” Wolfson said, per HoopsHype. “But I’m now told he hasn’t had any dialogue about Ben Simmons with Philadelphia for a couple weeks.”
- The Jazz are off to an impressive 6-1 start this season, but it’s becoming clear that Rudy Gay will fill a “substantial need” on the roster once he’s ready to return from his offseason heel surgery, contends Tony Jones of The Athletic. Gay has the size and athleticism necessary to match up with bigger forwards on defense, and can create his own shot in high-pressure situations on offense, Jones writes.
- Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com takes a look at CJ McCollum‘s mindset after an offseason in which the standout Trail Blazers guard was the subject of much trade speculation.
Gay is the missing link for the Jazz.
Add him to what is already a very impressive roster and Utah should be considered one of the favorites in the West with a good chance of capturing the #1 seed again.
Agreed.
Adding Ben Simmons to any team is like trying to acquire cancer.
Malone’s a good basketball man. But it would be great if (without being fired) he could have said what he said to the players to the FO a season ago, along with a suggestion that they cease their CYA roster building.
Nuggets need help.
MPJ looks the same as last year with less confidence. Still clueless defensively, still a weak handle and terrible decision making.
He seemed to realise during the second half of Wednesday’s game that at 6’11” he can rebound and so made amends for his woeful offensive showing.
Bones has been a nice spark. Gordon is playing very well.
Not sure what this season holds for the Nuggets. They desperately miss Murray.
I was saying last season how much Denver would miss Murray during the playoffs after his injury. They barely got past Portland before the Suns swept them in the second round. Jokic can’t do it all by himself, they need Murray.
Bradley Beal anyone???
I thought that. MPJ plus some bench pieces, but really, all they need is Murray to return. Barton has the ability to give much of what Beal does and is a much better defender.
MPJ has just been paid on potential but I feel like although the assumed ceiling is KD, it’s much more likely to be closer to Jonathan Bender. As a complementary piece to Murray and Jokic, the forward tandem of MPJ and Gordon is enough. Without Murray it’s being exposed.
Cue El Don saying MPJ is a superstar – brother, have you watched him play? He has zero defensive instinct, has hands like bricks and is currently nothing more than a streaky 3pt shooter.
I honestly think I’d prefer to see what Bol can give me at this point as he seems laser focused this season.
If Beal joined the Nuggets, it would be game over for everyone else in the West. I honestly think they would instantly become the title favorites with Beal, but they’d likely have to give up too much to acquire him. They’d likely end up having to give up Bones, Murray, and a first, and idk then if they’d still be as potent a team.
I thought they were going to get him a couple of years ago, when Malik Beasley was still there, and Gary Harris had some value left, and they had multiple draft picks, but they did very different things
Of course Den misses the Joker when he sits, I mean who wouldn’t, he is the best player in the league!!!
If they didn’t miss him, something would be wrong there…
MPJ has started horrible, but alas he can only get better, so that is good news for Den!
Jokic is not even a Top 50 player
Ridiculous. He’s insanely good. You’ve obviously never watched him play. He can do anything on the floor and anything his team needs. His defense is actually effective this year too.
Sorry floridaman1988… but boy talk about a bad take… I mean if the MVP of last season & by far again the best player this season isn’t a top 50… well… what can I say, right?
I actually picked Denver as a 9 seed heading into training camp. I thought they lost depth without Millsap, and they dont have a backup 5 besides Jamychal Green, and they wont use Nnaji; Austin Rivers was a bad decision, Jeff Green is a weird fit in some of their lineups unless certain people get injured, they need another guard that can defend, besides Monte Morris, and they probably need another wing defender, besides PJ Dozier
Monte is struggling with the starting unit and Barton seems to be playing point guard for the starting unit. They could try moving Monte to the bench. They could start Austin…he seems to have some chemistry/friendship with MPjr. Maybe Rivers/MPjr run the occasional two man game for the starting unit to give Jokic/Barton a break. Not sure what to say. I hope the Nuggs start hitting their shots…that’s the bigger problem. Tonight’s game was ugly.
When Facu was playing with the starters, the Rockets didn’t even guard him. His man was playing zone in the paint. Whenever Facu plays with Jokic, Jokic gets clobbered by multiple defenders every time he goes into the paint. It’s not all Facu’s fault, but other teams don’t respect him. I think Facu’s minutes should go to someone else. I aslo think the Nuggs should go big rather than small. Bench lineups with 3 bigs Green, Green, MPjr, Gordon, Zeke, Bol and 2 guards.
?Bench? Rivers, Bones, MPjr, JaMychal Green and either Dozier or Bol (if the other team small) or Zeke (if the other team goes big). Take timeouts during the regular season to adjust matchups and try out things. 2 man pick game with Rivers and MPjr; Bones and Dozier go 1 on 1…everyone else shoots on kickouts. MPjr plays 18 minutes a game with the bench…starting playing with the bench…plus 12 minutes with the starters.