1 player the Nuggets need to step up in the absence of Aaron Gordon

The Nuggets received some devastating injury news on Tuesday as they learned that starting forward Aaron Gordon will miss multiple weeks with a calf strain. Gordon apparently has been dealing with some issues, left Monday night’s game against the Raptors early, and did not return.

Denver has been struggling to find consistent minutes outside of their starting lineup and surely this will only make things tougher. The bench has not been good and that’s especially true in the frontcourt. Dario Saric has already proven to be unplayable which has led to opportunities for DeAndre Jordan and Zeke Nnaji.

But now, in the wake of Gordon’s injury, the Nuggets are going to need to bump up everyone’s role to compensate for losing one of their most reliable players. This means taking a player from an already weak bench, inserting them into the starting lineup, and relying on even more unproven players for key bench minutes.

It’s a brutal situation to be facing, especially just a couple of weeks into the young season. The Nuggets are probably lucky to be 4-3 despite some ugly outings, but the schedule has been fairly soft to begin the year as well.

Nuggets need Peyton Watson to raise his game

Things are about to get a lot tougher for the Nuggets and the player who will have to pick up the most slack is Peyton Watson. Watson started the second half in place of Gordon on Monday night and played well. That’s a role he will have to get used to in a hurry.

During his 2+ seasons in the NBA, Watson has shown flashes and glimpses of potential but failed to put it all together consistently. After much promise coming into last season, he couldn’t even crack Michael Malone’s rotation in the playoffs against the Timberwolves.

But that’s not an option for Malone any longer, and now he’ll need Watson to take over as the team’s starting power forward until further notice. Watson is capable of filling those shoes on the defensive end and should bring some length, energy, and athleticism that is lacking in the starting unit - especially without Gordon.

The biggest question for Watson has been his offensive game, but it should be greatly aided by sharing the frontcourt with Nikola Jokic consistently. If Watson stays active, screens and cuts with purpose, and knocks down his open looks, he is going to fit in seamlessly.

It’s a lot easier said than done, but early returns were promising as Watson scored 16 points in 30 minutes on Monday, including getting to the line for 9 free throw attempts, and knocking down the game-winning three-pointer.

Nuggets fans have been yearning for Malone to take the training wheels off and give Watson more opportunities. Well, now Watson is going to get that opportunity whether Malone likes it or not. Let’s hope that he hits the ground running and uses this chance to prove his worth as a key rotation piece for the Nuggets.

If he can’t fill the void, the team is in big trouble. They don’t have many other options on the current roster outside of playing Hunter Tyson heavy minutes. This injury to Gordon also further compounds the brutal injury to rookie DaRon Holmes in Summer League. Holmes would be another nice option for frontcourt minutes right now, but is out for the season with a torn achilles.