The Nuggets have been dealing with a depleted roster for most of the season. The team has a proven and reliable starting lineup, but really only has a handful of proven bench players. Players have been in and out of the lineup, and Michael Malone and his staff have done their best to patch rotations together, but it hasn’t been easy.
At this point, the Nuggets would be happy to go into the playoffs with a reliable eight-man rotation. The five starters are all locked into their roles and will surely play heavy minutes. Russell Westbrook will likely get the first shot off the bench due to his high motor and ballhandling. Peyton Watson will get a shot due to his defensive abilities.
Beyond that, things are largely up in the air. Zeke Nnaji and DeAndre Jordan may get a shot at some backup big-man minutes. Jalen Pickett may have played his way into a backup point guard role - especially if the Westbrook minutes fly off the rails.
But what the team really needs is some shooting off the bench. Going into the year, the hope was that second-year player Julian Strawther would be able to provide some spacing in the second unit. He has had an up-and-down year, but he has played in 61 games at 22 minutes a game, averaging 9.4 points a night and shooting almost 36% from three-point range.
Those stats aren’t amazing, but he’s likely the best option that Denver has on the bench. He could come into a game, get hot, hit a few shots, and possibly swing a playoff game. But Strawther suffered a knee injury against the Celtics in early March and hasn’t played since.
Strawther upgraded to questionable to face Warriors
But the Nuggets got some good news on Thursday’s injury report as Strawther was upgraded to questionable for Friday. The Nuggets will take on the Warriors in Golden State on Friday night coming off tough back-to-back losses.
The Nuggets are currently sitting in fourth place in the West while the Warriors are just one game behind them in the loss column, currently in fifth place. This is a massive game for both teams and if the Nuggets don’t start to turn things around in short order, they’re in jeopardy of losing homecourt advantage in the first round, or worse, falling into the play-in tournament.
Luckily, they appear to be getting reinforcements in their best bench shooter. If Strawther is able to play, the team will be as healthy as they’ve been all year and should at least have a few games to get into a rhythm and build out the lineups and rotations before the playoffs begin.
Strawther isn’t locked into playoff minutes, but if he can hit the ground running and find his shot, that would provide a huge boost for the Nuggets that nobody else on the roster can provide. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the best they’ve got to work with. Given the personnel, it may be tough for the Nuggets to make a deep run in the playoffs, but having a fully healthy roster will at least give them a chance.