When you have the reigning MVP on your team, it’s probably not in the Denver Nuggets front office’s best interest to immediately spend valuable cap space on bolstering the position. Especially when other categories on the depth chart require more urgent attention due to injuries and free agency departures.
But, it should be noted that with JaVale McGee signing with the Phoenix Suns, the Nuggets no longer have a true center on the roster besides Nikola Jokic.
There are, in fact, still several serviceable options at the center position still on the market, but why spend valuable cap space when you already have Zeke Nnaji?
Denver has quite a few players who can put in time at the five, but finding a solid backup center should be a goal for the Nuggets over this season; and I think Nnaji can be that guy.
JaMychal Green and Jeff Green were both signed in the last week as forwards who can occasionally be the man in the middle, but both of them work much better as power forwards.
Bol Bol has shown very few flashes of a bright future and it’s unclear if he can be a solid rotational piece, but he still has a lot of potential as a mobile 7’2″ stretch big.
The one other player on the Denver Nuggets roster who has seen significant time at the center position is 2020 draft pick Nnaji, and he has very quietly slipped under the radar as an athletic big man who can run the floor and play both sides of the basketball.
In his rookie season, he saw the floor for an average of 9.5 minutes a game in 42 appearances, averaging 3.2 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 40.7 percent from behind the arc, an encouraging sign of efficiency. With his raw talent, I think he has the potential to take the Nuggets backup center role for himself at some point during the 2021-2022 season, and here are three reasons why:
Denver Nuggets: Why Zeke Nnaji can be the backup C – Spacing the floor
Zeke Nnaji didn’t come into the league being primarily known only as a stretch big, but he made other teams learn to respect him from deep last season, knocking down 24 of the 59 threes he took during the regular season.
He actually took more threes than twos last year, only putting up 45 field goal attempts from inside the arc. Being able to draw defenders out of the paint due to one’s shooting threat is one of the most valuable skills a big man can have in today’s game, and that’s something Nnaji brings to the table that McGee did not.
As last season progressed, it seemed Nnaji was getting more and more comfortable taking catch-and-shoot shots from deep, and I am excited to see more of that next season as his confidence grows.
Especially in college, one of the Arizona graduate’s favorite shots to take was a mid-range pick-and-pop from 10-16 feet out, where he shot 50 percent from during his rookie year. Nnaji has strong court awareness and seems to be able to fade into just the right spots so his teammates can find him for open looks. I think he and Facundo Campazzo could make a fun pick-and-pop duo to watch out for as a part of the Denver Nuggets bench lineup that will likely be shooting a lot of threes this upcoming season.
Denver Nuggets: Why Zeke Nnaji can be the backup C – Using that athleticism
Just because he was primarily a shooter on offense last year doesn’t mean Nnaji can’t jump out of the gym. He owns a 38″ vertical leap and can throw down the occasional emphatic jam.
He didn’t get too many opportunities to show it off this last season, and that likely has to do with his aggressiveness in the paint.
Because he got so comfortable shooting jumpers this year, he wasn’t a very strong scoring threat inside and didn’t collect as many rebounds as I believe he is capable of. If he can show a little more confidence when driving to the basket and be more tenacious under the hoop, his game will take a jump to a new level.
The NBA lists Nnaji at 6’9″, however, in college he was listed at 6’11” and multiple other sources have said the same, so I think there’s a decent chance we have a Kevin Durant situation of sorts on our hands when it comes to his height.
He’s 240 pounds but moves quicker than that number suggests. His speed allows him to run with the fast break and score in transition off of turnovers. He has a good eye for passing lanes and can make high-rising blocks, defensive skills that were seen in flashes last year but were plenty on display during his one season as a Wildcat.
Denver Nuggets: Why Zeke Nnaji can be the backup C – Fit in the rotation
Lastly, Nnaji just fits with the group that looks like it’ll be part of the Nuggets’ second battalion. I hope we get to see a lot of Jeff Green-JaMychal Green-Nnaji this season at the three, four, and five off the bench for Denver next year, even though Jeff hasn’t been playing small forward much recently.
Because all three have experience at all three positions, it will allow head coach Michael Malone to experiment and have a lot of versatility in the lineups he chooses to run with off the bench. It should also be noted that each of them also shot at least 40 percent from the field last season (JaMychal shot .399, to get technical), and combining that with a facilitating playmaker like Campazzo or Monte Morris and a shot-creating two-guard such as Austin Rivers would make for a very dangerous bench lineup for the Nuggets.
Nnaji sort of reminds me of your classic big man that will come off the bench to give you 15-20 high-energy minutes that aren’t spent marking up the box score, but doing the little things to keep the ship afloat.
Guys like Taj Gibson, Montrezl Harrell, Jarrett Allen, and the most recent addition to the group: Bobby Portis. I truly believe Nnaji could become like one of these fan-favorite players in Denver as soon as this season if he can start being more aggressive and using that athleticism to turn him into more than the pick-and-pop weapon he has proved himself to be.