For years, the common theme with the Denver Nuggets has been that they dominate the minutes when Nikola Jokic is on the floor, and get dominated for the few minutes he sits. It has been an almost laughable issue for the team as they’ve struggled to field a solid bench and any semblance of a backup center.
Jokic’s on/off splits in recent years have looked so ridiculous that opposing fans have jokingly chided the Nuggets for intentionally bolstering his advanced analytics to help his case for MVP awards. That’s obviously not been the case, but the bench has been bad enough that it’s not a completely ridiculous thought.
But those days should finally be over. The new front office in Denver, led by Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace, has totally revamped the roster and built what should be a very strong bench unit. Last season, the team struggled to find six or seven reliable players on a nightly basis; this year, the coaching staff will have a surplus of options.
Denver can go 12 deep on any given night
Last season, the Nuggets’ bench was basically Russell Westbrook and a bunch of unproven kids. They’re disastrous backup big man rotation of DeAndre Jordan, Dario Saric, and Zeke Nnaji was just that, and after just a few games, Michael Malone was grasping at straws from game to game.
Now, things are different. The Nuggets have three newly acquired, proven veterans ready to come off the bench in Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas. That alone would be an upgrade on the situation from last year, but that’s not all.
The team is also getting rookie DaRon Holmes II back from injury. The 2024 first-round pick missed all of last season with a torn achilles, but should immediately slot into a backup frontcourt role.
On top of that, the team still has its solid young bench players in Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, and Jalen Pickett. Those three can slot into roles that are more suitable for their current talents, which should take the pressure off and allow them to develop and get into more of a steady rhythm.
Adding the five starters, that’s 12 players with real NBA experience who are good enough to be in a team’s rotation. David Adelman and his staff almost certainly aren’t going to play all 12 every game, so this gives them a great chance to manage minutes, give plenty of rest to veterans, and navigate a long regular season.