2 reasons why Monte Morris is better than Isaiah Thomas for the Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone is shrinking his rotation in preparation for playoffs. The main choice comes in deciding who gets minutes out of 2017 MVP candidate Isaiah Thomas, and young gun Monte Morris. Here is two reasons why Monte Morris deserves those minutes.

Let’s start with the main bench unit lineup. Mason Plumlee and Malik Beasley have been the only two players to play regular minutes off the bench all season.

The three-man lineup of Morris, Beasley and Plumlee for the Nuggets in 556 minutes this season has accrued a net rating of +6 per 100 possessions.

Having a six-point advantage coming from your main bench guys is a pivotal reason why Denver has won so many games this season.

If we swap Morris for Thomas in this three-man lineup, we have a negative rating of -3.8 per 100 possessions. Given this is a much smaller sample size for Thomas, it amounts to a difference of -9.8 points per 100 possessions.

The bench has been so important to Denver this season and this shows the negative effect Thomas is having on this bench unit.

Second, Thomas blunts Morris’s impact and just makes him worse. Since Thomas has returned to the lineup, Morris is averaging 5 percent worse from the field, 6 percent worse from the Free throw line, two less points, one less assist and half of a turnover more per game.

Obviously the points and assist numbers drop due to the lower minutes he played over the nine-game Isaiah Thomas experiment but the percentages is what is worrying.

Morris thrives on efficiency and Thomas makes him an inefficient player. Morris is known for having the best assist to turnover ratio in his college career. While in the NBA, it sits at about 5 assists for every turnover.

In the nine games Thomas played, Morris only averaged 3 assists for every turnover. Monte Morris is not an off-ball player, he needs to run the offense. Thomas is a very ball-dominant guard. These two do not work together and it showed in the downturn of Morris’s efficiency.

Two simple reasons that show Monte Morris is more effective for this team. The pure affect each individual has on the team they’re playing with, Morris is positive, Thomas is negative.

And also the fact that when these two play alongside each other, it effectively blunts Monte Morris’s impact on this Nugget team.

Morris has been to important for the Nuggets for his effects to be blunted, hence why Mike Malone should give Monte Morris the spot in his playoff rotation.