J.J. Hickson Isn’t As Bad As You Think He Is
For the past few years, Denver Nuggets big man J.J. Hickson has become a punching bag around the NBA, in the same category as guys like Kendrick Perkins, Javale McGee and Andrea Bargnani.
SB Nation’s Tom Ziller was particularly hard on the 27-year-old big man when he previewed the Nuggets before the season.
This is what Ziller said, in response to the question: “let’s play amateur GM: what would you do with the roster?”
“I’d leave J.J. Hickson at an airport of his choice. I’d try to get a draft pick for Kenneth Faried. I’d try to trade Darrell Arthur to free up some space for the non-Nurkic big prospects like Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic. I’d ask my coach to please play Gary Harris and (to a lesser extent) Will Barton over the vets like Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Did I mention leaving J.J. Hickson at an airport? I feel like that’s important.”
Hickson’s bad reputation has been somewhat justified. He isn’t good defensively, struggles to shoot outside of a few feet, has random lapses in judgment and is a notorious rebound-hoarder.
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But is the overall impact he has really that bad? Like, one-of-the-worst-players-in-the-league bad? Nope.
People always seem to focus on the negatives with Hickson, and never the positives. The North Carolina state product is a powerful finisher, has a solid post game, is a good rebounder (even if his numbers are ever-so-slightly inflated) and occasionally can do well defending one-on-one with his athleticism.
Simply put, Hickson produces. His career per-36 averages of 15.3 points and 11 rebounds (his rebounds have spiked in recent years) are numbers most big men would be proud to have.
On this Nuggets team, Hickson got phased out of the Nuggets’ big-man rotation during the preseason and has only recently gotten burn thanks to some injuries.
What has he done? He’s produced, of course.
Hickson notched 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting in his first game of the season, adding seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 25 minutes. In the three games he’s played, he’s averaging, essentially, 19 and 10 per 36 minutes on 67 percent shooting. For this Denver team, which ranks No. 24 in offensive efficiency and a mediocre 17th in rebound differential, that’s helpful, no matter how you slice it.
You don’t grab that many rebounds by always snatching them from teammates. You don’t shoot 67 percent by always making terrible decisions. And playing below-average defense doesn’t automatically make a guy who gets 19 and 10 per 36 minutes terrible.
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If this makes any sense, Hickson is the poor man’s reverse of Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies. However, only Allen has any shred of capability around the league.
“The Grindfather” is a fan favorite around the league for his tireless, relentless effort on defense. He’s totally incompetent on offense, converting shots usually only when he’s within a few feet of the hoop, often even missing those shots. But he’s lovable because of his animated personality and 100 percent effort.
Now, Hickson isn’t as valuable as Allen, because his offense isn’t near as impactful as Allen’s defense, but hopefully you see my point; because Hickson does things on the court that annoy NBA viewers, they’re more disposed to bash him because of his weaknesses, instead of praise him for his strengths, like they do with Allen.
In fact, the 27-year-old post has apparently done some likable things with the Nuggets since head coach Michael Malone’s arrival. Per Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, Malone said the following last Tuesday:
“J.J.’s a vet, been in the league, been on some good teams, and put up some good numbers. And for him to be playing behind two young players, he could have been (mad) and had an attitude. But not at all from J.J. He’s stayed engaged, he’s worked hard, he’s been a pro.”
Moving forward, he probably won’t play a big role on this Nuggets team. At 27, he doesn’t have the potential of Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic or Joffrey Lauvergne, and the rebuilding Nuggets will be disposed to play them more.
He’s also not quite as valuable as Darrell Arthur, a fellow veteran. Arthur has had a rough shooting start to the season, but he has a nice jump shot and plays really good defense.
The point of this piece isn’t to prove that Hickson is a good NBA player, because he isn’t. He’s not even average, either. But he’s definitely not terrible.
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J.J. Hickson has plenty of weaknesses, just like every other role player in the NBA. Big shocker, I know. So, like we do with other role players, it’s time we start appreciating what he does bring when he steps off the bench as opposed to what he fails to do.