Nuggets have a glaring crunchtime dilemma that burnt them on Friday night

Despite the Nuggets’ 19-14 record on the season, and Nikola Jokic leading the early season MVP race, most of the discourse around the team has been somewhat negative. The defense has been bad, the bench is weak, depth is an issue, they don’t shoot enough threes, and on and on.

But one undeniable bright spot has been free agent acquisition, of Russell Westbrook. The former league MVP had been passed around the league unceremoniously the last few seasons and it seemed like his career may be coming to a sad end.

Instead, things have gone the other way for Russ. The 36-year-old signed with the Nuggets on a veteran minimum deal and the fit has been excellent. He’s filling a massive void on this Denver roster, providing playmaking, scoring, energy, pace, intensity, competitive spirit, leadership, and more. 

He has been a breath of fresh air for a team that has otherwise been clouded in pessimism at times. Russ has also fit incredibly well playing alongside Jokic, something that has created some tough decisions for head coach, Michael Malone.

Russ has played in all 33 of the Nuggets’ games this season, starting 12 of them and logging 26.5 minutes per game (and steadily rising). He has also forced Malone’s hand to the point that he has been playing in the team’s crunchtime closing unit pretty regularly.

Teams are daring Westbrook to shoot in crunch time

But this has created a bit of a problem that has started rearing its ugly head lately, including down the stretch of Friday night’s loss to the Spurs. Down the stretch, the Nuggets are running their offense through Jokic and Jamal Murray.

That means Russ is off the ball late in games. He can be a great cutter and screener, but catch-and-shoot threes are not his bread and butter. Lately, teams have been leaving Russ while he spots up to go double team. That’s exactly what happened on Friday.

When Murray handed the ball to Jokic at the top of the key and cleared out, Russ was spotting up on the left wing, and his defender, Keldon Johnson left Russ alone to go double Jokic. The pressure forced Jokic to throw it away as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The problem is that Westbrook is good at a lot of things, but shooting is not one. He is a low-percentage shooter and has been for a while. Teams are not afraid of him shooting, in fact, they are hoping for it. The coverage is basically telling the Nuggets that their preferred outcome is Westbrook shooting a three.

That’s not a good situation for the Nuggets to be in, and it’s not going to help the team maximize their late-game offense. Russ has earned a chance to be in closing lineups, but the reality of the situation is that Jokic and Murray are the guys who should be running actions.

If that’s the case, Russ is rendered into an off-ball situation where he is relegated to a spot-up role. For Malone to play him, he’s essentially accepting his fate being in the hands of Westbrook and his ability to hit three-pointers.

That’s a decision that will burn this team sooner than later, and one could argue it already has. There are difficult decisions to be made, but if the Nuggets are going to run their offense like this, they need to get Russ off the floor and cannot afford to keep playing 4-on-5.