The Denver Nuggets Have a Severe Passing Problem

The Nuggets’ 3-7 start in not surprising for a team that has the third-fewest assists and the most turnovers per game in the NBA.

The Denver Nuggets began last season 5-5 through 10 games, but a few last-second shots, poor interior shooting, and a league-high number of turnovers have regressed the team to a 3-7 record to start this year — the same record they had through 10 games in 2014-15. Throw in a few early-season injuries to Will Barton, Gary Harris, and Wilson Chandler, and you have the recipe for a woeful start.

The Nuggets inability to distribute the ball early on is disconcerting. The team currently ranks 28th in assists per game at 18.7, only ahead of the Utah Jazz and the Toronto Raptors. For those two teams, though, the low assist count makes sense.

Utah is playing at the slowest pace in the NBA, whereas the Nuggets are playing the sixth-fastest tempo.

The Raptors rely heavily on DeMar DeRozan who is a master at creating his own shot and is leading the league in scoring. The Nuggets don’t have that type of individual talent.

By the way, Jazz are 7-4, and the Raptors are 7-2.

The part of the equation that makes it worse for Denver is that they are also leading the league in turnovers per game. The Nuggets are committing 18.1 turnovers per contest, which makes their assist to turnover ratio 1.03.

Woof!

There are certainly a number of players under-performing in this area, but Emmanuel Mudiay is carrying the troublesome torch.