The final preseason game and the injury to Julian Strawther put a bit of a damper on things, but overall, the last few weeks have been mostly encouraging for the Nuggets’ revamped bench. They have a good mix of youth and veterans, a lot of guys with vastly different skill sets, and a newfound level of athleticism.
It’s an exciting time, but still, other than DeMar DeRozan, some glimpses from Strawther, and one breakout season from Spencer Jones, this group is very raw and almost completely unproven.
It makes for a fascinating Catch-22 situation for David Adelman. On one hand, he’s coaching a championship-contending team with its star players squarely in their primes. His only goal is to win, and that’s going to make it very hard to develop young, unproven players.
But on the other hand, we’ve seen the starters get run into the ground in recent years, and if they can’t make it to the playoffs fresh and healthy, they have no real chance to contend anyway. As tough as it may seem in the moment, Adelman has no choice but to trust his bench and live through some growing pains in pursuit of the ultimate payoff.
Adelman suggested Nuggets could go with 11-man rotation
That may seem like a tough sell to coaches, fans, and players alike, but it’s the right move, and if Adelman can be taken at his word, he fully grasps the situation. On Sunday, Adelman told the media that the goal is still to play a nine- or 10-man rotation, and that he’s even considering what he called a “fake 11-man rotation”, which could mean giving someone new a chance in the second half depending on how things are going.
Adelman mentioned Trevon Brazile, Cam Whitmore, and Bryce Hopkins specifically as guys who could be thrown in to try and change the momentum, and added, “You can’t be scared to throw those guys out there.”
And that’s exactly the message that fans should want to hear from Adelman going into this season. There are going to be some times when it looks ugly, and there will likely be some lumps in the regular season. But he needs to lean into his backups and allow them to get comfortable and confident out there. It will pay dividends in the long run, and it will keep Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, and Jamal Murray fresh.
At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters, and that’s what’s going to define this season. We already know how good that Big 3 can be, and what they can do when they’re at full strength. But we also know how much the Nuggets have struggled to keep all three of them fresh, and if one or more are compromised, they don’t have a shot.
Add us as a preferred source on Google