We’re closing in on the season opener and we’ve all voiced our opinions on what the Denver Nuggets will look like this season. So what’s the unexpected that only Michael Malone and Nuggets players could see coming?
I’ll start with the minutes left over at small forward (SF) with Wilson Chandler departing the Denver Nuggets.
How will the SF Minutes Play Out? I think the popular opinion is that Will Barton will step into a starting role here and Gary Harris played a lot of minutes here last year, so on a short bench they divide most of the minutes with Juancho Hernangomez and Torrey Craig simply spelling them for quick breathers. That being said, Barton played guard as much or more as he did small forward last year, he has never been an every night starter at the position and seldom drew a big name defensive matchup late in the game. So, who might we see more of then we think?
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Torrey Craig earned some quality minutes due to his defense last year. Don’t be surprised to see him play a significant role again this year perhaps bigger then we expect. He’s also played more guard then SF, but has similar size to Barton. A lineup with Harris and Craig in at 2 and 3 for defensive purposes is certainly a possibility when Michael Malone is looking for defensive matchups. That may only apply to late game scenarios, but assuming it turns out to be a good defensive lineup and the offense doesn’t fall way off without Barton we could see it as a possible starting lineup returning Will to the bench for his offensive explosions
Juancho Hernangomez Juancho played 13.6 minutes over 62 games two years ago. After an early illness, he appeared in only 25 games (11.1 minutes per game). He was basically lost in the rotation last year and has been dubbed more of a power forward recently, but depending on his play and situational matchups he could crack the rotation again this year.
Given Denver doesn’t have a definite SF on the roster the position could be up for grabs or even changed game by game or matchup by matchup. Barton will get his minutes probably exceeding his career high of 33.1 per game from last year, but at what position and when has yet to be seen. Here’s to hoping they can figure it all out and the Nuggets can be as good as we hope they are. All stats were verified via basketball reference.