The Nuggets have had a lot go wrong this season, as they’ve had to endure long-term injury absences for four of their five starters, including Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon. Despite that, they’ve gotten off to a 26-13 start, and they sit in third place in the Western Conference.
On a recent episode of the Kevin O’Connor Show podcast, KOC’s guest, Tom Haberstroh, described the Nuggets’ season as the “best case scenario”. The two NBA analysts raved about Denver’s added depth, how the injuries have forced the new coaching staff, led by David Adelman, to lean into his young players, and how they have responded masterfully.
For years, the Nuggets have had some of the worst depth in the NBA, but that has drastically changed this season. Not only have they added reliable vets like Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, and Jonas Valanciunas, but they’ve gotten breakout performances from Peyton Watson, Jalen Pickett, and Zeke Nnaji.
Suddenly, the Nuggets look like one of the deepest teams in the NBA, and they’re getting production from all 14 guys on the roster, and even a two-way player, Spencer Jones, has become a vital part of the rotation.
Part of it is added depth, part of it is a new front office and coaching staff, and part of it is obviously all the injuries, but one way or another, the Nuggets have gotten a good look at some young, unproven players, and they have to be overjoyed with what they’ve seen.
Nuggets know what they have at full strength
The injuries are certainly not what anyone wants to see, but luckily, we all know what this team can be at full strength. We’ve seen enough of it this season and in the past to know that any version of this starting unit is going to be absolutely elite, and now we’ve also gotten to see how deep the bench can go.
It’s everything we dreamed of when this roster was put together, and more. They’ve got all kinds of versatility and flexibility to create all different kinds of lineups. Thanks to this opportunity for guys to scale up, we now have confidence that some of these young guys could actually step up in a pinch and give the Nuggets a spark off the bench.
But even if they are never called upon for major minutes, they’ve revived their NBA careers and their potential value around the league. Nnaji and Pickett, especially, were all but left for dead, thought to be almost unplayable and just useless contracts. But now, they’ve shown enough promise that another team could be interested in taking a longer look.
So, while nobody would’ve drawn it up this way, things couldn’t have worked out much better for the Nuggets so far this season. Now, hopefully, everyone can get healthy, and we can see what this rotation looks like when fully optimized for a few months before a long playoff run.