Denver Nuggets: 3 things Jeff Green brings to this team.
By Adam Taylor
3 things Jeff Green brings to this team: Defensive versatility
Similar to his offensive approach, Green also brings defensive versatility to the Denver Nuggets. According to BBall Index’s tracking data Green spent significant amounts of time guarding every position on the court.
Jeff Green's defensive versatility is going to improve the Nuggets bench this season. He's highly mobile, can switch 1-through-5, and has a sound positional IQ. pic.twitter.com/fpPZ2j60GP
— Nugg Love (@Nugg_Love) August 4, 2021
Not every team in the NBA runs a “switch everything” system, but having players capable of guarding up and down from their position is vital to a robust defense. Of course, guarding a player and doing so successfully are two very different things.
Defense is the hardest part of basketball to quantify in statistical terms. An amazing defensive possession can still end in a basket, while a terrible one can end in a stop. It’s also a fool’s errand to try and pinpoint a single player’s impact on the defensive end, as so much is reliant on a full team effort.
However, we can guesstimate a player’s impact using a metric called Estimated Plus-Minus or EPM for short. According to Dunks and Three’s tracking data, Jeff Green ended last season with a -1 EPM on defense, which is respectable, to say the least, when factoring in Brooklyn’s limited defensive options.
Adding Jeff Green to the rotation means the Denver Nuggets will be more versatile, robust, and unpredictable on defense, something that Mike Malone will likely relish throughout the season.