David Adelman gives Nuggets fans exactly what they've been waiting for

Nuggets’ brass has been discussing the possibility of playing a Twin Towers lineup featuring both Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas. Still, through two preseason games, it had been no more than a discussion. On Sunday night, David Adelman gave the people what they wanted and paired the two big men together for a couple of minutes in each half.

In the second quarter, when Adelman subbed Jokic back into the game, he left Big Val out there, having the Joker essentially playing power forward. Adelman did the opposite in the third quarter, when he had JV check into the game, but left Jokic on the floor as well.

In total, the duo shared the floor for a little under five minutes, and the results were mostly positive.

Double bigs would help with rebounding issues

On the defensive end, the Nuggets were playing a lot of zone with Jokic and Val in the game, and it looked pretty good. There seemed to be a mountain of man in front of the basket at all times, which helped thwart penetration and kept good rebounders near the rim.

We know rebounding may be an issue, so playing more double-big lineups could ease some of that concern. It was also nice to see that, for their size, both these guys move pretty well and were able to get out and cover guys when needed. Jokic was able to close out to the corner shooters enough to dissuade shots without giving up blow-bys. I think they can make this work.

Double big offense can bully teams off the floor

And on the offensive end, this pairing could be a cheat code. We saw them setting cross screens for each other, with one posting at the elbow and the other on the block. With each of their ability to post up, finish around the rim, plus pass out of the high post, this tandem is going to be deadly.

There aren’t many teams in the league that have the defensive interior players to slow down one of these guys, let alone both at the same time. This should definitely be something that the Nuggets lean into and pull out as a weapon in the right moment. 

We saw the Rockets use a double-big lineup featuring Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun in the playoffs to great success. Now, maybe the Nuggets have their own counter to that. The more options they have, the better, and this is an excellent one to add to the tool belt.