The NBA trade deadline is just under a month away but the Denver Nuggets have already made a few changes to the roster. The additions of DeMarcus Cousins and Bryn Forbes were on full display in a win over the Detroit Pistons.
Not only did we get our second look at Forbes and first look at Cousins in Denver jerseys, we also got to see what Michael Malone wants to do with his rotation.
For what seems like the first time this whole season, Malone has functional depth and he played a solid rotation that went ten deep. The two players with the fewest minutes were DeMarcus Cousins and Davon Reed, two players who you could even see getting more time on the court.
Boogie played well despite not playing since earlier in January and there were plenty of positive quotes to go around.
Cousins even poked his old friend “Mike” Malone before the game via Mike Singer, The Denver Post:
"“I’m like, man, Mike, you kinda lost it. I’m used to the Mike that’s vein popping out the side of his head, freaking out on the sidelines.”"
He adds that the two had kept in touch since their time together, something DeMarcus was happy to share:
"“That’s genuine love. Outside of basketball, that’s just genuine love. We developed that relationship in Sacramento. It’s lasted this many years. … It’s a real thing.”"
Cousins finished with two points on 1-7 from the floor but he played a crucial role for a bench unit that needs to pick up its game when Nikola Jokic is off the floor. Against the Pistons, the Nuggets’ bench was outscored 41-37.
As Cousins told Sean Keeler, The Denver Post after the game:
"“I didn’t have my best shooting performance, but I made a couple plays. The ultimate thing (was) we got a win.”"
Everyone knows what Boogie brings to the court and his physicality will come in handy during the non-Jokic minutes. In his only basket of the night, Boogie gets deep post position, misses a shot but is strong enough to grab his own rebound and put it back up.
He was excellent during his ten-day stints with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks even mentioned that they wouldn’t have been able to keep a steady ship without him and they had to let him go for financial reasons.
On the Bryn Forbes front, he has been doing exactly what he’s in the league to do: make shots.
The sweet shooter made two of his shots from 3-point range and scored 12 points against Detroit.
The Jokic bump is truly alive and well and we’re probably going to see many more wide-open 3-point attempts like the one below:
Forbes doesn’t even need to find space with this attempt, the gravity of Nikola is enough to drag defenders away. It’s great that Denver now has just one more reliable shooter spaced around the league’s MVP.
Now throw Bryn into a core of Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray and his shots open up even more. I can almost hear Jokic licking his lips from behind my monitor, it’s going to be fun to watch.