The Denver Nuggets are still more then a week away from regular season basketball and have only played exhibition games against one NBA team.
Yet I feel we’ve seen some things and raised some questions. The Denver Nuggets scored 118.5 against the Lakers in two games and gave up 109 points on average in those two. That would’ve ranked No. 1 in scoring last year and near the bottom in points allowed, but the spread would have been the best in the NBA.
So, perhaps it’s silly to compare the stats from two preseason games against that of a regular season, but the point is we’ve showed we can score once again and that the defense gives up more points then other NBA powerhouses. The sample size is small especially with Harris and Murray missing time nursing injuries, but questions and answers are forming as we approach the regular season.
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The starting offense appears to be similar to last years with the scoring spread around to the hot hand and most of the plays running through Nikola Jokic. Jamal Murray is actually 5th in the projected starting five in assists per game and it isn’t a slim margin. Jamal’s averaged just 0.5 assists while 4th place Paul Millsap has had 2 assists per game.
The bench however is lead in assists by Monte Morris with 5.7 APG (1.7 ahead of 2nd place Trey Lyles). So, the ball distribution is much different with the second unit then the first. I’m a big fan of Monte Morris, but he’s currently keeping the backup PG spot warm for Isaiah Thomas. Given the frequency that Morris is handing out assists I speculate that the keys will be given to Thomas to run the second unit with him dominating the touches.
If, when and how Thomas plays in his 6th man role is perhaps the most important question. Will Malik Beasley maintain his hot hand and be the predominant SG off the bench? Or will the Nuggets find minutes for Morris when Thomas is on the floor. Or, will Juancho force his way into the rotation this season with Craig sliding back to the two guard with that second unit?
There may be enough minutes for all these players to play a role, but Michael Malone tended toward a shorter bench last season. We will probably see starters mixed with bench players frequently as well . So, with Plumlee and Lyles likely the first in the front court I see 5 players (Thomas,Morris, Beasley, Hernangomez, Craig) competing for 3 spots off the bench. Then, eventually we may add Michael Porter Jr to the puzzle.
All of this is preliminary and it is preseason basketball, and also depends heavily on player health, but the pieces and position battles seem to be taking form.