Should The Denver Nuggets Hold On To Joffrey Lauvergne?

There are five games remaining for the disappointing Denver Nuggets, but many fans would like to press a fast-forward button if they could — advancing to the offseason. This has been a forgettable campaign which means some changes are coming, and some faces are leaving. The question is who? We can all agree that players such as Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari have a great shot of remaining on the roster through the summer, but what about one of the last men off of the bench — Joffrey Lauvergne?

Lauvergne came over from the Russian Super League (he played for BC Khimki) during the All-Star Break and he has seen action in 19 games. I’m not sure how good his team in Russia was, but if he has a problem with losing, there’s a good chance he wishes he would have stayed overseas. Regardless, he is an NBA player now and he is trying to become a regular member of the Nuggets rotation. After a promising start in his first few games, he has seen his playing time decrease and there are numerous questions surrounding his NBA potential.

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The athletic French power forward is currently averaging 3.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.1 turnovers per-game, while seeing 12 minutes of game action a night. His numbers don’t pop off of the page when you look at them, but you have to remind yourself that he is a rookie who didn’t get a chance to participate in a training camp. He was thrown out there in a middle of a season, in an entirely new country and with a bunch of teammates that he had never met before. That would be an interesting (and difficult) situation to walk into.

After arriving in the United States in late-February, he began his NBA career on a high-note. Former head coach Brian Shaw must have liked something about his playing style because he gave Lauvergne 22.5 minutes per-game over his first four career games. Against the Phoenix Suns on February 25^th, Joffrey had his best game as an NBA player — 11 points (4-7 from the field) and 9 rebounds in 26 minutes. He showed enough potential in that game to receive a start the following game against the Utah Jazz (on February 27^th), but Lauvergne had a rough night — despite the fact that he nearly had a double-double (9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 turnovers). The Nuggets were outscored by 36 points when Joffrey was on the court, and the Nuggets ended up losing by 22 points. He never received consistent playing time after that game, and he is averaging a miniscule 9.8 minutes per-game over his last 14 games (plus four games where he didn’t get off of the pine).

Lauvergne has some athletic ability, but he has yet to use it to his advantage. Many analysts considered him a solid shooter before he entered the league, but his shooting percentages leave a lot to be desired — 35.1-percent from the field, 13.3-percent from beyond the arc and 62.5-percent from the charity stripe. He is a finesse player, but he can’t create off of the dribble and he hasn’t been knocking down shots. If he could learn to be a more physical presence inside, then he would have a lot more success. Up to this point, he is only making 47.1-percent of his attempts around the basket (see shot chart above). Defensively, he has had a rough time defending the three-point line (his matchups make 46.2-percent of their three-point attempts), but he hasn’t been a liability anywhere else.

What does the future hold for Joffrey Lauvergne?

He is far from being considered a lock for being on the Nuggets roster in 2015-16, but it isn’t likely that he will be moved either. There won’t be any teams knocking down the door trying to pick him up, so unless he is a throw-in with another player in a trade, he will probably be on the team next season. He is due to make $1.71 million next year, and the Nuggets have a $1.71 million team-option for 2016-17. He does have some raw skills and he is only 23 years-old, so there is a chance that he could develop into a useful player. He needs to work on becoming consistent with his shot, limiting turnovers and developing some toughness. If the Nuggets decide to do a full-rebuild, there is a chance he could see some more minutes next season, but until he gets a full training camp and we get a chance to see a little more, the jury is still out.