In the first of many Denver Nuggets player report cards to come, the sample size is small, but these early trends in player performances could impact their rotation for November. These player grades will only be for players who appeared in 8+ minutes per game, essentially indicating that they were a part of the rotation when healthy for the month.
Due to this 8-minute cutoff, in the October report, there are only 9 players to grade. For future months, this number is likely to go up as players rest or deal with injuries, but for now, the perceived playoff rotation is all there is to evaluate… and it has some concerns.
The Nuggets lost their first two games of the season, both at home, against the Thunder and the Clippers. They then went on the road and struggled against two non-playoff teams in the Raptors and Nets, needing overtime in both games to win. 2-2 is certainly not the end of the world, but it is clear that some Nuggets players have started out better than others.
The grades will be weighted based on the specific role and expectations that the player had entering the month (in this case, entering the season). Which players are the standouts of October, which players are lacking quality thus far, and which players fall in between?
The honors program hoopers (A- grades or better)
Nikola Jokic: A+
There have been many question marks revolving around the Nuggets this season, but the 3x MVP, Nikola Jokic is not one of them. He is as dominant as ever and looks to be on track to another MVP-caliber season.
The Joker is averaging 31.5 PPG, 12.3 RPG, and 9.3 APG, to go along with 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He has taken the term “stat-stuffer” to a whole new level. Not only are his numbers insane, but he is doing so on 57/55/78 shooting splits, which is insanely efficient. Jokic is perhaps the only reason that Denver is not 0-4 right now.
Christian Braun: A
After the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope departure, many NBA analysts did not believe that Chrstian Braun would be able to step in as the 5th starter without growing pains. Despite this, Braun has been an absolute delight for Denver and one of the few true non-Jokic bright spots. He has meshed nicely with the starting unit on offense and has strived on the defensive-end too.
CB has averaged 14.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 2.8 stocks per game as he continues to get comfortable with playing huge minutes for Denver. His 1.8 blocks per game leads the entire team and his 53.8% FG shooting ranks 3rd on the team. Even his shooting from beyond the arc isn’t half-bad, shooting 36.4%, good for 4th best on the Nuggets.
Next up, the middle-of-pack grades will be handed out to 3 specific players