Nuggets Power Rankings: No. 10, J.J. Hickson
The Denver Nuggets’ preseason roster includes 19 players, and the team will try to figure out which 15 of them deserve a shot during the regular season throughout the team’s seven-game exhibition slate.
But, for now, how do these players stack up? We polled our staff writers and editor at Nugg Love to get a consensus power ranking of every player on the roster, and we’ll be releasing one player each day from October 5 to 23, starting from No. 19 and finishing at No. 1.
Coming in at No. 10 in the power rankings, is forward JJ Hickson, Let’s dig in and see what Hickson’s strengths and weaknesses are, and how he might contribute to the Nuggets in 2015-16.
Who is J.J. Hickson?
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Hickson is entering his seventh season in the NBA, but his third year with the Nuggets. In his first two seasons with Denver, Hickson has averaged 9.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game.
Before he was a Nugget, Hickson was a player for the North Carolina State Wolfpack in college. After one season in Raleigh, Hickson was selected No. 19 overall in the 2008 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He spent three seasons in Cleveland, the latter two of which he was primarily a starter.
Then on June 30, 2011, Cleveland traded Hickson to the Sacramento Kings. Hickson did not last long with the Kings, playing only 35 games with them. He was thus waived in March of 2012.
After Hickson was waived, he was claimed by the Portland Trail Blazers and played the end of the campaign with them. Hickson had his best season in his only full year with the Trail Blazers. He started all 80 games he played in and averaged 12.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game on 56.2 percent shooting from the field.
Hickson then signed with Denver in the offseason of 2013.
Strengths
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FanSided
Hickson is really good at three things: rebounding, running the floor and finishing at the rim. He’s an athletic 4 who has the strength
If you take a look at his 2014-15 numbers, his numbers are very comparable to Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson. Hickson averaged 7.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game last year while shooting 47.5 percent from the field. Thompson averaged 8.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks with 54.7 percent success rate on his shots.
Hickson’s numbers are slightly lower than Thompson’s numbers, but Thompson also played seven more minutes per game than the Nuggets big man.
Weaknesses
The biggest weakness of Hickson’s game is that he is not a good off-the-ball defender. Last season, his opponents shot 52 percent on him at the rim, per NBA.com. His opponents also shot 47 percent when he defended their shots.
With those stats, Hickson definitely isn’t a very good rim protector.
Lastly, his offense is limited to finishing at the rim and grabbing offensive rebounds. He isn’t a good passer, dribbler or jump shooter.
2015-2016 Outlook
Hickson will not be a starter, but he will contribute this year for the Nuggets off the bench, as he plays a physical brand of basketball that can energize teammates and fans. He will definitely help the Nuggets on offense. He is good for a rebound every three minutes, and only 30 players had a better per-minute rate on the glass than Hickson. He also gets out of on the fast break, which suits Denver’s fast-paced style.
A second unit featuring Hickson next to a defensive-minded big would serve the Nuggets very well in 2015-16.
Note: All stats are from RealGM unless otherwise indicated.