Denver Nuggets: 3 takeaways from Oct. 3 loss vs. Thunder

Last night, the Denver Nuggets hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder in their preseason home opener to tip-off the 2022-23 campaign. While the night ended in a tough 112-101 loss, there were still plenty of positive takeaways from the game as a whole.

Not only did we finally get to see Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. all on the same court together for the first time since April 2021, but other lesser-known names showed out as well. DeAndre Jordan was active and efficient, Bones Hyland was fearless (as usual) and Jeff Green looked ten years younger.

With all that and more, here were the three biggest takeaways from the Denver Nuggets’ preseason home opener.

Takeaways from Oct. 3 loss vs. Thunder: Denver missed MPJ’s scoring ability

Michael Porter Jr. has faced a ton of criticism and skepticism dating back to his days at Missouri. On the one hand, his sheer potential as a 6’10” do-it-all forward shooting a career 42 percent from deep and 52 percent from the field is simply mesmerizing. On the other hand, he’s been dealing with back injuries since his freshman year of college and has yet to play a full NBA season.

Nevertheless, his performance last night was a reminder of just how much he means to this team.

Despite finishing the game with just 12 points, Porter made the most of his opportunities finishing 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range, all in just 14 minutes of action. In his highly-anticipated return to the court, MPJ proved that he hasn’t lost a step and appears primed for a revenge tour in 2022-23.

Obviously, it’s hard to get too excited about a preseason contest, and Porter’s first game back in almost a full calendar year at that. However, the game illustrated to me just how much the Denver Nuggets missed having the fourth-year sniper on the floor.

With Jamal Murray operating in isolation or the pick-and-roll game and Nikola Jokic setting up teammates with no-look dimes, everybody knows that the Nuggets’ offense is going to run through these two in 2022-23. That being said, when Jokic gets doubled or mismatches take Murray out of the game, Michael Porter Jr. is going to be the player relied on to get a bucket.

The further we progress through the regular season, and the closer we get to the playoffs, wins will be hard to come by. There’s also a good chance that Murray takes more time to get his rhythm back and Jokic takes a step back in scoring as a result of having to relearn to play with two other offensive focal points.

The clear elephant in the room is whether or not Michael Porter Jr. can stay healthy, which is the only thing that’s really held him back from becoming an All-NBA-type talent. Although, assuming he can stay on the floor, having MPJ as a security blanket for when points become scarce is going to be vital for this team down the stretch.

Bones needs to step up as a facilitator

Truth be told, it’s hard to be too critical about Bones’ performance last night as it was just a preseason game and there were a lot of moving pieces for the team this offseason. Nevertheless, to finish the game 2-of-7 from the field, and 0-of-2 from three-point range, resulting in a negative plus-minus rating of -11, is disappointing, to say the least.

Even though Hyland’s still projected to be Denver’s sixth man and one of their more reliable scoring options for the Nuggets. A lot has changed regarding this roster makeup and it’s probably going to take some time for Bones to adjust.

Looking at things from a positive lens, Bones Hyland appeared to be one of the more aggressive players on the court last night against the Thunder. As expected, he was one of the first players off the bench and was constantly seeking out ways to attack the basket as the clear leader of Denver’s bench mob. The issue is that passes like this were few and far between.

Coming into the 2022-23 NBA season, Hyland was the player projected by most to take the biggest leap forward. The Nuggets recently traded away Monte Morris, the one player ahead of Bones in the rotation, and are relatively thin at the point guard position. And as the saying goes, talent plus opportunity equals success, right?

The presumed result is that Hyland would build off his All-Rookie second team performance from a year ago, and emerge as one of the key components for a championship contender. While I still believe he will live up to the sky-high expectations set out for him this season, he’s going to have to learn to adapt to a role he’s not exactly used to and that’s as a facilitator.

When Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are out of the game, Bones Hyland will need to step up as the lead facilitator of the Denver Nuggets offense. Bruce Brown and Jeff Green can move the ball effectively, but neither can set up others for open shots consistently. This means that for the second unit to be effective, Bones needs to act as more of a point guard than a shooting guard and put effort into getting his teammates open.

Last season, the Denver Nuggets needed Hyland to step up as a scorer following the losses of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., the team’s second and third go-to scoring options. While that was probably more natural for him, the challenge for Bones now is to evolve into more of a passer than a scorer.

With all of the new additions to the team, his success this season will be measured by how well he can lead the second unit, which begins and ends with his ability to facilitate the offense.

Nnaji could be the difference-maker

Lastly, it feels only fitting that we end this off on a high note and review arguably the best performance from last night, Zeke Nnaji. Who has been plagued by injuries and limited to just 83 games in his professional career since getting selected 22nd overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.

In Denver’s preseason home opener against OKC, Nnaji was easily the most impressive player on either team. Notching a team-high 15 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 1-of-3 from long range in just 17 minutes of action.

The Denver Nuggets’ offseason was defined by their big decision to move on from Monte Morris and Will Barton in exchange for more two-way players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown. Although, once we saw where all the pieces landed in free agency and the draft, it became clear that Denver forgot about one key position; backup center.

Sure, the team went out and signed DeAndre Jordan this summer, who actually looked to be in good form last night. Although, DJ averaged fewer than 14 minutes per game last season with the 76ers, and is clearly on the decline of his NBA career. He’s also the only center on the roster not named Nikola Jokic.

Now chances are that with Jokic averaging 30 to 35 minutes a night, whoever the backup center is won’t be relied on a ton anyway. However, with Jordan being 34 years old and Nnaji seemingly in mid-season form already, there’s a very real opportunity for Zeke to emerge as the Denver Nuggets’ primary backup at the center position.

Zeke Nnaji’s presence was felt throughout the game last night, not just on the scoresheet. He appeared too quick and agile for OKC’s centers and his astounding 7’1” wingspan and over 250-pound frame was clearly too much for their forwards to handle. He was active on the offensive glass and ran the floor faster than any other big man on either team.

Obviously, it’s hard to get too excited over his performance, as he spent most of the night teaming up with the Nuggets’ third unit alongside Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar, and Ish Smith. Nevertheless, he easily had the most bounce of the names mentioned and already looks like a multi-year starter.

If Zeke Nnaji continues his upwards trend, he has the potential to become a key difference-maker for Denver this season.