Denver Nuggets: An updated look at the depth chart after FA
By Sean Carroll
Denver Nuggets post-FA depth chart: Point guard
This is where Denver will miss Jamal Murray the most. While he isn’t an elite distributor and passer, his ability to play at the one next to the pass-first Nikola Jokic unlocks some juicy lineups for the Denver Nuggets.
Starter: Monte Morris
Monte Morris is no stranger to starting for this Denver squad and Malone always inserts him when he needs competence at the guard positions. It’s going to be exciting to see how Monte will play in the first half of the season as a full-time starting point guard.
One of the underrated elements of Monte’s game is how sensible he is with the ball. Chris Paul, deservingly, gets all the attention for his lack of turnovers, but Morris is just as elite. In the 2020-21 season, he averaged 0.7 turnovers per night in 25.4 minutes.
Out of all point guards or combo guards who played 1,000 minutes, the only player with a lower turnover percentage was CJ McCollum per Cleaning the Glass. Monte turned the ball over 7.2 percent of the time, Chris Paul? 11.3 percent.
Backup: Facundo Campazzo
Facundo Campazzo played his arse off in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, unfortunately getting blown out in the first elimination game against Australia.
He’s the perfect FIBA point guard as a hard-nosed pass-happy guard who plays sensible positional defense, doesn’t gamble, and doesn’t turn the ball over.
He played 21.9 minutes this past season and we’ll likely see that number increase as the first guard off the bench.
Third string: Shaq Harrison or Markus Howard
The Denver Nuggets can bring both of these players back on two-way deals but we should wait and see if it happens first. Either way, both players, or a new two-way guard, would be sitting behind Monte and Facundo for time at the lead guard spot.