How can the Denver Nuggets fix their bench problem?

The Denver Nuggets aren’t getting much production out of their bench this season and if something isn’t done about it soon, it could be a thorn in the team’s side for the rest of the season.

There were two plays in Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that epitomized the Nuggets issues in this young season.

The plays happen to come right after one another and it came at a horrible time for a Denver team that needed a boost to start the fourth quarter. Austin Rivers found himself isolated against Isaac Okoro, arguably the Cavs best wing defender, and thought it’d be a good idea to try and take him off the dribble and put up a contested shot.

It didn’t go well…

There were over nine minutes to go in the final period after the two blocks but with this momentum and the lack of production from Denver’s second unit, there was little hope that the Nuggets were going to mount a comeback.

Denver ended the game with only 87 points and obviously lost, sending in the bench and two-way players to close out the performance.

Michael Malone called the team’s effort “soft” in his postgame press conference but regardless of how the starters played, the game was lost on the bench.

The entire Denver bench amassed only 26 points, and that’s including some garbage time baskets, while Kevin Love scored 22 points off the bench with Ricky Rubio totalling eight assists in his limited minutes.

While this effort is very much an extreme case and it’s not wise to judge a team by it’s worst performance, it’s not hard to see that this Nuggets bench has some creation issues.

It’s partly due to the Jamal Murray injury, bringing steady hand Monte Morris into the starting lineup hurts the bench’s ability to get solid looks at the basket, but one player simply doesn’t ruin an entire unit.

Plus, the bench doesn’t have to be the best in the league, it simply has to stay as close to neutral as possible while Nikola Jokic rests. We know that when Jokic is in the game, the Denver Nuggets are probably going to win, it’s just about maximizing his minutes.

How to fix the Denver Nuggets bench: Stagger the starters

The aforementioned Rivers block came with a unit of only bench players. Given how shallow Denver’s bench is right now, it’s incredulous that Malone hasn’t inserted starters into this lineup more.

Facundo Campazzo isn’t as steady with the ball as Morris but he was able to find both the Greens open for some solid 3-point looks. Unfortunately, both of them missed their three attempts from behind the arc.

On some days, those shots will fall, but on days like yesterday, there’s no backup plan.

In the 24 minutes that the full bench lineup has played this season, that’s Campazzo, P.J. Dozier, Rivers, Jeff Green, and JaMychal Green, the team is a net -50.8. That number isn’t per 100 possessions, that’s simply their production minus the opponents.

That’s scary.

The great thing about the Nuggets bench is that a lot of the players are versatile on defense and could probably benefit from playing a smaller role on offense with the starters. Malone could consider bringing Dozier or Jeff Green off the bench first for Will Barton or Michael Porter Jr., letting one of them start the second term with the bench as the go-to option.

Neither MPJ or Barton are afraid to hunt for their own shot and it’d be much more palatable if they’re hunting for their shot on this offensively-inept second unit, not taking away from valuable Jokic minutes.

Following the Jamal injury this past season, Campazzo was the default starter and the team went on a run to secure yet another top-four seed in the Western Conference. Facu isn’t as good as Monte on that end of the ball but when playing next to MPJ and Jokic, it didn’t matter, he could hound opposing guards on defense and take a backseat on offense.

Right now, Jokic has a +40.8 offensive rating. It’s held up by a strong +13 when he’s on the court but propelled by a disastrous -27.8 when he sits.

Something needs to change. At the moment, Michael Malone should look to get more starters involved with the bench play, but if that doesn’t work, Tim Connelly and the Denver Nuggets brass need to decide if it’s worth bringing in external help via trade or simply waiting until Jamal returns.