With every passing game, the shortcomings of the Nuggets’ roster become more and more apparent. When the Nuggets fired their GM, Calvin Booth, with just three regular-season games remaining, it sent shockwaves throughout the NBA world.
Booth had been the Nuggets’ GM since 2022, when he took over and made a few key roster moves that helped Denver win its first championship in franchise history in 2023. But since then, most of his moves have been questionable at best, and some have been downright disastrous.
From signing Regge Jackson and giving up draft picks just to get rid of him to using your big free agency swing on Dario Saric, the bad moves on the margins in the past few seasons have caught up with the team, and the result is the roster we see in front of us.
Nuggets’ lack of depth and talent killing them
Now, the Nuggets find themselves entering a Game 7 with six reliable players, at best. Denver has essentially leaned on the starters, Russell Westbrook, and nobody else. David Adelman has given a handful of minutes to Peyton Watson; he’s given DeAndre Jordan and Jalen Pickett some minutes here and there, but that’s been it.
These guys are warriors, and they can handle a heavy workload, but at a certain point, the constant wear and tear is debilitating. And with the large burden comes some casualties. Jamal Murray is playing with an ankle injury, Aaron Gordon is playing with a calf injury, Russell Westbrook has already missed a game in this series with a foot injury, and Michael Porter Jr.’s shoulder injury is so bad he’s basically playing with one arm.
And yet, the team has no other options to turn to because the roster is so devoid of playable talent.
Booth set the Nuggets up for failure
Calvin Booth preached patience with an eye on the future and said he wanted to set the Nuggets up to be a dynasty, rather than just win back-to-back titles. He wanted to build the team through homegrown draft picks to supplement the core players and leave the team flexible to make moves going forward.
But the problem for Booth is that the young players simply aren’t good enough right now. Maybe someday, in the right situation, guys like Watson, Pickett, Julian Strawther, Zeke Nnaji, and others will be good NBA players who can make an impact in the playoffs, but that time is not now.
Michael Malone didn’t trust those players and didn’t develop them. David Adelman can’t put them on the floor in the playoffs. It’s an extremely frustrating situation and one that was entirely avoidable. Yet here we are. Get ready to see six players on the court for the vast majority of the game, with five guys likely seeing 40+ minutes. Hopefully, they have enough in the tank to get it done, but it’s not going to be an easy task, and Booth deserves a lot of blame.