In recent years, Nuggets fans have gotten used to an extremely unreliable bench and a lot of blown leads once Nikola Jokic takes a rest. Much has been made of the completely revamped backup unit, and it’s impossible to tell whether that group has improved or not.
They’re an unorthodox mish-mash of veterans like DeMar DeRozan, in-house projects like Julian Strawther, overseas experiments like Alpha Diallo, and more. Will it work? That remains to be seen. But regardless, David Adelman has no choice but to trust the process, to live through growing pains, to allow the group to gel and find some chemistry, and to give his starters a chance to catch their breath.
It may lead to some ugly regular season games. It may even lead to some frustrating losses. But at the end of the day, it’s the only chance for this team to reach its goals, which will come long after the regular season is over.
Because in Denver, with Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon squarely in the prime of their respective careers, the only thing that matters is winning another title. Every decision the front office and coaching staff make should be with that lone goal in mind. Nothing else really matters.
Which is why they need to give this bench a real chance, in a way that they didn’t last season, and Michael Malone never did. If they continue to run this starting unit into the ground, yes, they will likely win more games and secure a better seed, but they’ll hit a wall in the postseason and have nobody to turn to.
If Nuggets starters aren't fresh, team has zero chance in playoffs
We’ve seen it happen several years in a row, and it simply can’t happen again. The Nuggets have a lot of promise and potential on the bench, but it’s going to take time to grow. Those players need to build confidence and learn how to be part of this team. They need to take their lumps and eat up minutes.
The starters need to stay fresh, and Adelman needs to build trust in his reserves when the chips are down and the stakes are highest. Maybe that means winning 48 games instead of 54, and you know what? That’s okay. If there’s nothing left in the tank, it doesn’t matter if they win 70 games; they’re not going to make it through four playoff rounds alive.
But if Adelman is patient, he can learn which players he can trust; he can keep Jokic, Murray, and Gordon fresh; he can go into the playoffs with a healthy group, full of energy, and hopefully, at least a few guys off the pine he can trust. That’s all this team needs, and all the fans want: a puncher’s chance.
Given the state of the roster and the league, this is the only way to do it. It may not be pretty. It may mean forcing guys to rest and take games off. It may even mean taking Jokic out of MVP contention or Murray out of All-NBA contention. But so be it. If that’s what it takes to compete for a title, it will be more than worth it. And if that’s not the payoff, it was never going to happen with this group anyway, but at least we’ll know for sure.
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