Denver Nuggets 2024-2025 monthly player report cards: October’s rollercoaster ride
By Tyler Key
The problem players (C- grades or lower)
Michael Porter Jr: C-
Perhaps expectations were a bit too high entering the season for MPJ, but the offseason and preseason were definitely indicating that Porter Jr. might be more polished as a three-level scorer this year for Denver. Instead, he has been below average defensively and was not able to find his 3-point stroke for the first 3 games of the season, connecting on a mere 4 of 20 shots.
There have been two positives for MPJ this year however. His rebounding has been a true strength, averaging 7.8 RPG and his performance against the Nets, where he shot 6/11 from the field and 4/7 from beyond the arc may be able to get him back on track. Overall he is averaging just 13.3 PPG, shooting 29.6% from three and will need to pick it up soon.
Russell Westbrook: C-
It has been a tale of two halves for Westbrook as a Nugget thus-far. In the first two games of the year, he was abysmal for a combined -37 in 40 minutes of court time, shooting 2/18 from the field and 1/9 from deep. NBA fans and analysts were quick to jump on Russ about his poor play, but in the final two contests of the month, he did fare much better.
Against Toronto and Brooklyn, Westbrook has looked more poised and in control. In the Nets game he was spectacular, shooting 2/2 from three-point range and 10/10 from the FT line to score 22 points (adding 5 assists) in 21 minutes. Sadly, the veteran PG is at the point of his career where half of his games will likely be good performances and the other half won’t be.
Peyton Watson: D+
Transitioning to another former-UCLA player, Peyton Watson has also been tough to watch this year. In 15.5 minutes per game, the 6’8” forward is averaging just 4.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 0.8 BPG. He has also not been the defensive force that he was last season so far, but much of this could likely be boiled down to him missing the entire preseason due to injury.
Watson has seen the ball go through the hoop very rarely in 2024-2025 for Denver, connecting on 5/20 shots overall and 1/7 from distance (with many of the threes being wide-open). There shouldn’t be a huge concern at the moment about Watson, as he was great in the regular season last year, but this was not a good start no matter how the team may justify it.
Dario Saric: F
So… Dario Saric has been flat out bad. There’s no way around it. He has looked slow on defense, getting blown by constantly by smaller players, but has also been bullied inside by true centers. He has likely been the worst defender on the team, despite only appearing in 9.8 minutes per game.
Even on offense he has looked confused and stagnant as he tries to acclimate himself to the Nuggets and his new role and supporting cast. Across four games, he has 5 total points and has been a negative on both ends, so much so that Denver fans have been calling for Zeke Nnaji to get yet another chance over Saric… This signing by Calvin Booth might be a swing and miss.
Which players are graded too high or too low? There is a good chance these grades will ebb and flow in November, as the sample size of games and performances will rise dramatically. The Nuggets head to play the Wolves in Minnesota next on November 1st to try to avenge their game 7 collapse from last season.