3 reasons why Lance Stephenson doesn’t fit with the Denver Nuggets
By Luke Schmit
Why Lance Stephenson doesn’t fit with the Denver Nuggets: Rotation
The Denver Nuggets starting five is locked in with (a healthy) Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic. With Murray likely out until March, Monte Morris should slide into the starting role as he has in the past.
The bench unit can always change due to injuries or consistent good play at different times with different players. Either way, Stephenson could not make his way into the rotation.
With the re-signing of Will Barton and newly acquired Jeff Green, the number of minutes looks tight for many rotation players.
Some may have forgotten about the athletic wing defender, P.J. Dozier, due to his groin injury that left him out of the 2021 playoffs. He has plenty of upside in his game and has excellent length for defending some of the league’s best offensive players.
His shooting could improve after finishing last season 31.5 percent from deep, which ranked 13th of all Nuggets players in 2020-2021. But I still can’t imagine a scenario where Stephenson could impact the game more than Dozier and I don’t see coach Malone giving P.J.’s minutes away.
Austin Rivers took off for the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. He averaged 11.5 points against the Portland Trail Blazers and made crucial three’s that propelled the Nuggets to victory. Rivers has proven he deserves minutes, and I do not see Stephenson as more dangerous than Austin from deep.
New Nugget Jeff Green will have to earn his minutes, but that should not take much time at all after watching his stellar performance in the playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets. During Game 5, Green made seven three-pointers against the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks and took a game-changing charge against soon-to-be Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Nets came back and won 114-108 after being down as much as 17 points, but it couldn’t have happened without Green. I don’t see a chance Stephenson can replicate Green’s veteran leadership and shooting ability.
With all three of these players already battling out playing time, Stephenson would have difficulty finding minutes after not playing in the league in over a year.