One thing the Denver Nuggets haven't done in the last few years is give their rookies a chance to get playing time. It feels like a tradition now. Draft them and sit them. But it's a tradition that needs to be put to rest this season. The Nuggets drafted a couple of athletic rookies in Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins. And if Mr. Nugget Aaron Gordon's hunches are right, they need a chance to see what they're capable of in minutes outside of garbage time.
The de facto team leader, Gordon, was putting on a basketball camp for area youth when he stepped aside for a few minutes to chat with local media who had gathered to watch the event. One of the things Gordon mentioned was how he was impressed by the two rookie second-round picks. Gordon got a good look at both of them when he helped organize the Nuggets team-building trip to Puerto Rico last month.
"Bryce is really good. TB is really good. They can play. I'm not entirely sure where they're gonna fit in. But they can go," said Gordon.
That's been part of the problem in the last few years. Fitting the rookies into a rotation spot. But with less depth this year, the Nuggets should give them a chance to see meaningful action.
The rookies have space to see game time
When you look at the Nuggets' depth chart, the rookies look buried. But in reality, they're mostly lower on the depth chart due to a lack of experience. However, especially in Brazile's case, the experienced players, DaRon Holmes II and Zeke Nnaji, haven't been playing meaningful minutes for the Nuggets either. So why not move on from those two and give the rookies a chance?
Brazile stands 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, and sports a 41.5" vertical leap. His highlight tapes look like something out of the Nuggets' Chris "Birdman" Andersen archives. Brazile can grab a lob from just about anywhere, and he excels at help-side defense and rim protection. He's very athletic, and he showed during the Las Vegas Summer League that he can stretch the opposing defense with an excellent three-point shot.
Hopkins, on the other hand, seemed to thrive on physicality during the summer league. Hopkins is a strong, 6-foot-7 wing who likes to get downhill and attack the rim. He had no problem forcing his way to the hoop, and he's a good three-point shooter.
With the lack of depth around both of them, the Nuggets don't have much to lose by trying them both out early and seeing what they've got. Sure, the Nuggets probably won't have hit the jackpot like they did with their second-round pick Nikola Jokic, but they could be better than what the Nuggets already have on the roster.
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