Denver Nuggets: 4 reasons for optimism in the face of disaster

Denver Nuggets reason for optimism #2: There is help out there if we want it

While more minutes for promising youngsters Bol Bol and Zeke Nnaji have been encouraging but they’re not shooters, so we think a bigger reason for optimism is the fact that Denver’s by no means stuck with this current roster and they could and should add some pieces over the next month or two. There are several avenues by which they can achieve this goal.

The first is to waste no time in taking advantage of their newly acquired G-League affiliate Grand Rapids Gold, who feature some very intriguing pieces as we outlined last week. Two of those guys are do-it-all energy booster Lance Stephenson as well as Canadian sharpshooter and former top-15 pick Nik Stauskas.

They could call either of these guys up for a little cup of coffee and a little ten-day action to see if they fit, and if they do, it’s kismet, and if they don’t, they can just go back to the Gold, where they’ve both been thriving. No harm, no foul.

Another option is to scour the free agency market for some sort of shooter/scorer to help share some of the offensive load, which is currently being carried almost exclusively by Jokic and Barton. There are actually some decent guards that can score out on the market right now such as Wesley Matthews Jr. and Jeff Teague.

And, I wasn’t going to mention him but after seeing him on TNT on Tuesday night, I’ll have to throw his name in the ring again: Jamal Crawford aka J-Crossover is still available ya’ll!

Another way to do it is via trade, although this one is a lot trickier than the first two because they’d likely have to give up a promising piece for a short term fix, which is never ideal. I mentioned him as a possible late-season buyout candidate before the season, but the way the Rockets are going, I’m not so sure they wouldn’t trade the 32-year-old Eric Gordon for next to nothing right now.

If they could make the money work, Gordon would be my top choice to add to the team after Stephenson. Gordon is still a very solid scorer, and despite his age, he’s a big-bodied guard who can play some of that tough D we were just talking about as well.

Just something to think about Mr. Booth.