The Denver Nuggets Have a Severe Passing Problem

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Oct 31, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Denver Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson (1) shoots for a basket past Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (42) in the first half at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

What Should the Denver Nuggets Do?

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With the roster as constructed, the answer really does lie in the hands of Emmanuel Mudiay. That’s a scary notion for the Nuggets faithful, although he is only 20 years old. There is time to develop still, but how long are the Nuggets and their fans willing to wait?

The good news is that he’s already shown that he can be better. He wasn’t a good NBA point guard last season by any means, but he did average 9.0 assists per 100 possessions and have a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio last year. Again, that’s not good, but it would be a marked improvement from how he’s started this season.

If Mudiay continues to lag in development and maintaining possession, what else is there to do?

One thought is to play Mudiay and Nelson a bit more together. This would allow Nelson to run the offense and Mudiay to play off the ball. He’s shooting 33.3 percent from deep, so a few more open treys might not be a bad thing.

The problem with this solution, though, is that the duo hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire when playing together. According to Basketball Reference, when Mudiay and Nelson are on the court together, the Denver Nuggets are -24. Of the team’s 81 two-man lineups, that ranks 71st. This solution isn’t exactly ideal.

Taking a closer look at this idea of two-man lineups, Mudiay still doesn’t rate well. Of those same aforementioned lineups, only three with Mudiay involved rank in the top half for Denver. That means the other eight lineups including Mudiay are in the bottom half and five of those are in the bottom 11.

Long-term, Mudiay might be the answer. He’s 20 years old with a career of development in front of him. There’s no telling what he might turn into.

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In the short term, though, the numbers suggest he should see more time on the bench.

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