Nuggets fans realizing they never solved their biggest issue from last season

When the Nuggets ran out of gas last season in Game 7 against the Thunder, they left the court looking bruised, battered, and exhausted. It was a valiant fight against the eventual champs, but one thing was abundantly clear: the Nuggets had to add some depth in the offseason in the worst kind of way.

And that was the focus of the summer. The new front office wasted no time in getting rid of Michael Porter Jr. and his albatross contract, and using the savings to build an entirely new bench.

Losing only MPJ from the rotation, the Nuggets added Cam Johnson to the starting lineup, signed a much-needed bench shooter in Tim Hardaway Jr., a familiar bench defender and Swiss Army Knife in Bruce Brown, and traded for an actual, proven backup center in Jonas Valanciunas.

Along with some optimism around internal growth from guys like Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, and DaRon Holmes, there was real hope that the Nuggets would have the deepest team of the Jokic era, and perhaps even one of the deepest in the entire NBA.

Nuggets depth abandoning them at the worst possible time

Yet, after all that, when needed most, the Nuggets’ depth has completely let them down. Big Val has proven to be completely unplayable, Strawther never played his way into David Adelman’s rotation, and Watson can’t stay healthy and on the court.

The Nuggets got just 16 points from their bench in Game 4; 10 from THJ and 6 from Brucey B. The only other player to get real run off the bench was Spencer Jones, who didn’t score in 25 minutes. Combined, the bench shot 6-19 from the field and 0-10 from three. Unacceptable in a game of this magnitude.

T-Wolves bench rubs salt in the wounds

It was made even worse by the fact that the Wolves lost two key starters to gruesome injuries, with Donte DiVincenzo tearing his achilles in the opening minutes and Anthony Edwards leaving before half with a hyperextended knee. But the Minnesota bench came through with a whopping 76 points, led by 43 from Ayo Dosunmu.

And it wasn’t just the bench that let the Nuggets down; the other role players weren’t there to help out a struggling Jokic, an overburdened Jamal Murray, and a clearly hobbled Aaron Gordon. Neither Johnson nor Braun reached double figures in a game where the Nuggets scored just 96 points as a team.

And with that, here we are, with the Nuggets staring at a 3-1 deficit and on the brink of a first-round elimination in demoralizing fashion. This year was supposed to be different. This year, the stars were supposed to have help and stay fresh. Instead, the issue looks worse than ever, and the Nuggets look further from a title than they have in a long time.

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