The Nuggets have had a run of bad luck over the past several months. They looked like a championship-caliber team last season, and then playoff star Jamal Murray tore his ACL in April.
Michael Porter Jr. looked very out of sorts to start the season. It turns out he was dealing with a nerve issue in his back, and he might be out for the season.
Despite losing two of their three best players, the Nuggets started the season 9-4 after reeling off five straight home wins. Two games later, MVP Nikola Jokic suffered a wrist injury.
A few games after that, with their top three players all sidelined, backup wing PJ Dozier suffered a torn ACL that will sideline him for the remainder of the season. Dozier was one of the team’s best and most versatile defenders.
The Nuggets now sit at 9-10 after losing six in a row. Jokic has missed the past four games, and it’s not clear when he’ll return. With the string of bad luck, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post wonders what the team’s next steps should be.
Kiszla opines that veterans Jeff Green, JaMychal Green, and Facundo Campazzo, all 30-plus years old, are not the future of the team, and coach Michael Malone should trust in Denver’s player development and give the young players a chance to play meaningful minutes.
He states that rookie Bones Hyland, currently sidelined with a sprained ankle, should have a significant role upon his return. He also thinks young forwards Zeke Nnaji (who’s also dealt with an ankle sprain) and Vlatko Cancar should get a chance to prove themselves as NBA players, instead of defaulting those minutes to the veterans.
Here’s more from Denver:
- In a mailbag Q&A for The Denver Post, Mike Singer answers several questions about the team. He says 7’2″ center Bol Bol doesn’t have the trust of Malone, which is why he remains stuck on the bench despite all the injuries. One major reason for that is the lack of hustle from Bol in the few times he’s received opportunities. Singer agrees with Kiszla that Nnaji should get more of an opportunity, and is curious how Lance Stephenson might fit defensively if he gets called up from Denver’s G League team at some point.
- Within the same column, Singer says there’s still a lot of unknowns about Porter’s back injury, but he does know that MPJ is trying to avoid having another back surgery. Both Kiszla and Singer agree that tanking isn’t an option for the Nuggets with Jokic in the middle of his prime.
- The defense has collapsed during the losing streak, Singer writes in a separate article. The team is preaching a defense-first mindset with so many important offensive players out. Singer states that the team desperately misses Jokic’s high defensive IQ and MPJ’s length and rebounding. Malone jokingly said Jokic should receive award consideration for something he’s not known for. “In the last six games, I know for a fact we’re the 30th-ranked defense in the NBA,” Malone said. “And that is a far cry from the defense that we started the year off playing. And that’s why … I think Nikola (Jokic) might be Defensive Player of the Year.”
Glad to hear Bones is gonna bounce back and get some run.
We love and miss that young dude in RVa!!
If they don’t want Bol, just release him! Hate how teams waste a player’s career for reasons that could be on the coach or the organization rather than the player. Bagley was given up on and in three games has a new lease of life with a new coach. Everyone has shut up. Jermaine O’Neal sat on the Portland bench for 4 years barely playing and then became an all star within a couple of seasons once traded.
Agree with Malone that Jokic is criminally underrated as a defensive player… but I strongly disagree with him playing so much the old dudes, right now Nnaji, Cancar & Bol should be getting so much reps to make them ready, as they are the present & future… meanwhile the Green & Green + Campazzo are just the past, sadly not even present at the moment!
I think they need to mini-tank. Take the year to develop the younger players and get a high pick.
Such an unlucky sequence of events.
Aaron Gordon has looked very good though.
Vlatko is a solid player and should get more burn anyway. Same with Zeke.
Jeff Green has been good, JaMychal not so much.
Campazzo is a situational guard, to be played only with strong offensive players. He’s not able to get his shot off the way a back up point needs to, a la Monte Morris.
Rivers has been totally nondescript and Will Barton is so inconsistent.
They look woefully outmatched these past few games and Jokic has to be insanely good to even keep them in games so far this season.
Mini tank or bust.