There’s no question that the Nuggets' biggest weakness over the past few seasons has been their bench. They’ve lacked any meaningful depth behind their elite starting unit, and it has ultimately cost them, as the top players have been overworked and either broken down, run out of gas, or both.
But this summer, they’ve gone out and rectified the situation by getting Michael Porter Jr.’s salary off the books and reinvesting that money in a trio of veterans to come off the bench. Add that to the young, up-and-coming players who featured on the bench last season, and this is actually starting to look like one of the deepest units in the league.
Most teams have three or four players off the bench on a nightly basis; the Nuggets now have seven players on their bench who will be expected to play nightly minutes. There’s no chance of David Adelman going 12-deep every game, so that means there is going to be some intense competition for minutes.
It also means that Denver should have incredible versatility and will have the luxury of toying with lineups and picking and choosing the ideal combination of players for every different scenario that arises this year.
No shortage of options for Adelman on Nuggets’ bench
The Nuggets will have two legit, and very different big men coming off the bench with the veteran plodder Jonas Valanciunas, plus the athletic rookie with an outside game, DaRon Holmes II. They can play one or two bigs off the bench and create lineups that can dominate inside and out on both ends.
They also have a plethora of wings who all offer differing skillsets. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Julian Strawther can come in and light the nets on fire with shooting and scoring. Peyton Watson can be your lockdown defender who plays above the rim and can push the pace in transition.
Then you’ve got two guys who can run the offense and do a little bit of everything with Bruce Brown and Jalen Pickett. Pickett is more of a true point guard, who should be a pure change of pace for Jamal Murray. But Brown is more of a Swiss Army Knife who can play just about any position and fill whatever role is needed.
It’s an embarrassment of riches for a team that hasn’t had more than one or two trusted bench players since they won the title. It may create some problems for Adelman and his staff to solve, but these are good problems to have. If he can push the right buttons, the Nuggets may have the best bench in the NBA.